This Atmosphere We've Made
by KTxx
Summary: Asking someone to prom is tough enough, especially when the object of your affection hates your guts. AU. Naley.
1. Chapter One

Nathan stuffed his hands in his pockets nervously as he shuffled down the hallway towards that locker, _her_ locker, all with one thing in mind.

Prom.

(...And last night's game, too, because it was awesome).

Everyone had a date, even Brooke, who usually just said yes to the hottest guy who asked her. She's going with her _boyfriend,_ Julian. Lucas is going with his _girlfriend _(not that they talk, he hates the guy, but he just knows these things), Peyton. Sara was going with her _boyfriend_, Clay. Heck, even Tim had plucked up the courage to ask Bevin, and even she said yes.

And single Nathan here is dateless.

Sure, he's had offers. _A lot _of offers actually. There was Carrie, Rachel, Alex, Renee, Anna, Claire... and that was it. Oh, and Jules too, she may have even cried when he said his rehearsed line. ''Uh, no, sorry. I don't think I'm going to prom this year. Besides, you deserve to go with someone way better than me.'' Then he had flashed his typical innocent smile and patted her shoulder kindly before getting the hell out of there before he drowned in her tears.

But he _was_ thinking about going to prom actually.

...With his brothers best friend.

He'd seen her; he always seems to just _see_ her. She catches his eye; like his blues are magnets and they're just drawn to her whenever she's around. She's not the blonde, short skirt wearing, tall, bimbo type girl that he usually goes for. She's the auburn haired, hole-in-the-knee jean wearing, small, _normal_ type girl that he has a crush on.

Yes, Nathan Scott has a crush on an _opposite._

It officially started on a Wednesday (he can't remember what date it was, jeesh, but it was a Wednesday, they sell pasta in the cafeteria on Wednesday's). They had been paired together to do some task in their English class, they just had to discuss the book they were reading and write about different opinions of it. But he couldn't even concentrate. When her arm brushed against his, these little tingles travelled across his body. And when she was asking him something, he could only see her plump lips; it was like they were calling to him or something freaky like that.

She wasn't interested, though. She would send glares in his direction frequently, she would roll her eyes at his smile (which was _sexy,_ he liked the point that out), she wouldn't even laugh at his _how did the chicken cross the road?_ jokes (to be fair, they did suck).

What Nathan Scott figured out in that hour, was that Haley James was loyal.

After that, he started to notice more things.

Like, when he walked past her in the hallway, he would stand a little too close so she would at least look at him, but then he would smell her sweet smell, she smelt _good. _He would sometimes see her at lunch, laughing and snorting at some _lame _joke that Lucas was saying, her laugh was musical. And there was something that he knew every time he saw her, she was beautiful.

But asking someone to prom is tough enough, especially when the object of your affection hates your guts.

Like he said, _loyal_.

''Uh, Haley.'' He tapped her shoulder, jumping back slightly once she turned around, glaring at him immediately. ''Hi.''

She raised an eyebrow, already clearly wary of him. Well, he hasn't _ever_ spoken to her outside of their English classroom before. ''Hi?''

''Yeah,'' Nathan nodded quickly, smiling shyly. ''I wanted to talk.''

''_Talk? _I'm Lucas' best friend,'' Haley reminded him, almost defensively. ''Why would you want to talk to me? In fact, why would _I _want to talk to _you_? The 'brother' who picks on him on a daily basis for no reason at all.''

''Because I'm a nice guy,'' he suggested, shrugging sheepishly.

She scoffed.

_Nice. _''Uh, okay, that's a lie. But I _could_ be a nice guy.''

''So?''

Scratch that, she's _really _loyal.

''Prom,'' he finally blurted out. ''It's... it's a month away.''

''So?'' Haley repeated sharply, tensing at the subject.

_She doesn't have a date?_ He wondered hopefully, yet surprised at to why the hell not.

''And I was wondering if you would want to go...'' he trailed off. ''With... _me._''

Her response was a kick in the shin, _his_ shin.

''Ow!'' Nathan exclaimed, kneeling down so he could rub his now incredibly sore knee. ''Wh-''

''You think that's funny?'' She demanded, pointing down at him warningly.

''Not really...''

''You think you can ask me to prom as some joke? And you and your friends can just laugh, and laugh and maybe laugh a little more. Then I'll be all happy and buy a really pretty dress, then you can show up with some hot date and throw eggs at me!'' Haley screamed, flying her hands up scarily. She took a deep breath and continued calmly, ''Well, you listen, Nathan Scott. This isn't _Never Been Kissed_ and I'm not Josie and I'm not going to fall for it just so you can mess with Lucas a little more. You dick!''

His eyes widened in hurt. It hurt more than he had anticipated. He'd never heard of Never Been Kissed (was it a sitcom?) or Josie. But did she really think he would do that just to mess with Lucas? He doesn't hate his dad's son that much. He's not evil. But she thought he was, it made his chest hurt like, if he did a twenty mile run and his legs were in agony. His heart felt just like that.

''But I _want_ to go with you,'' Nathan insisted weakly.

''So I can fall for you and you can break my heart?''

''No!'' he exclaimed. ''Of- of course not. I really like you, Haley.''

Haley folded her arms over her chest defensively. ''And why should I believe you?''

_Uhh..._ ''Take a chance on me.'' _Idiot!_

She scoffed again, rolling her eyes. ''Don't talk to me,'' she demanded before slamming her locker door shut and storming away.

''Well,'' he muttered under his breath. ''That went well...''

* * *

><p><em>''Okay, okay, why did the <em>turtle_ cross the road?''_

_She rolled her eyes, her lips curving up into a small, amused smile. ''Nathan, c'mon,'' She nodded towards the work in front of them. ''We have to get this done.''_

_''Just one more, promise.'' He held his hands up innocently. ''This one's really good.''_

_''Okay,'' Haley gave in with a mocking sigh. ''Why did the turtle cross the road?''_

_''To get to the shell station.''_

_Silence._

_But her smile did widen, though._

_And it took his breath away._

''Hey, Nate.'' Clay threw his fry at his best friend who was staring into the distance with a weird smile on his face, causing his girlfriend to giggle. ''What's up with you?''

Nathan shrugged. ''Nothin'.''

Sara looked at him seriously. ''Something is definitely up,'' she stated, patting the wooden table. ''Come on, Nate. Tell your aunt Sara.''

''You're such a nerd,'' Clay chuckled, nudging her playfully.

''But you love me,'' she said, rolling her eyes with an innocent smile. She looked back at the sulking boy sat across from them at the lunch table. ''Tell us what's the matter with you,'' she demanded lightly. ''You know I don't like not knowing things.''

''I asked someone to prom,'' Nathan finally revealed. ''And she said no.''

Sara nudged Clay (not so playfully) when she heard him chuckle. ''Who did you ask?''

''...Haley James.''

Even his girlfriend couldn't stop Clay from laughing loudly at that. ''Lucas' best friend, are you crazy?''

''What's that supposed to mean?''

''You threw him into a muddle of mud, you tried and _failed_ to steal Peyton from him-''

''-That was a joke-''

''You ruined his basketball court, you've had four-''

''-_Five,_'' Sara supplied. ''Remember the one at the away game?''

Clay nodded, remembering. ''_Five _fist fights, and at least ten arguments in the past couple of months. You've made his life hell, why would she go to prom with you? _Especially_ when you use girls, like, all the time.''

Okay, he kinda had a point. ''But it's different with her,'' Nathan insisted, like he had something to prove.

''Have you told her that?'' Sara questioned, looking at him knowingly.

''Not exactly...''

''Well, I have some information for you, challenged friend.'' She laced her hands together and rested them on the table in a serious manner. ''You know Carrie? The one who asked you to prom the other day when we were sat here?'' She waited for him to nod before continuing, ''Well, I know she's started picking on Haley a couple of weeks ago, for no reason at all. I'm in their gym class, she kept making comments about her. It was awful.''

Nathan frowned, his blood immediately boiling. ''But I worked with Haley in class a couple of weeks ago.''

Sara nodded. ''That's probably why then,'' she said. ''Maybe that's another reason she said no. She might be afraid that Carrie's going to keep picking on her.''

''But she can defend herself,'' he insisted. ''She _kicked_ me.''

Clay chuckled, stopping once his girlfriend glared at him.

''Carrie's scary, Nate.'' Sara stated. ''But I'll try and help you as much as I can.''

Nathan smiled gratefully. ''Thanks, Sara.''

She giggled slightly. ''Okay, Operation Get Haley James to go to Prom With Nathan, or OGH...JP...W...N for short, has officially begun.''

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I know, I know, I suck at writing two stories at once, but I can't help it! This is only going to be pretty short anyway. And I know I said I'm not writing while I'm away, so I'm calling this my _holiday project_. But it probably won't be finished by the time I get home, but I'll try and write as much as possible while writing MTMTE. I can't promise scheduled updates, so I'll just update whenever I can. I might have some tenses mixed up, sorry about that. The story title is from my favourite song in the whole wide world, _find a way _by _safetysuit._

Please review! **x**


	2. Chapter Two

''This isn't, like, an open operation, you know!'' Nathan exclaimed, lifting his hands up in the air in annoyance. ''You can't just invite Brooke and Julian to join OG...H...J- whatever it's called!'' he huffed, crossing him arms across his chest. ''I didn't want everyone knowing about this.''

''Tim doesn't know.''

_Thanks, Clay. That really helped._

''Nathan, what did I call Brooke after she convinced me to tell Clay how I feel?'' Sara questioned, looking at him expectantly with her big, beady, blue (_freaky,_ but we're going with b's here) eyes, waiting for an answer.

_Impatient, much? _''Uh, nosey?''

Brooke smacked the back of his head, and it _hurt._

''No, I called her cupid.'' Sara corrected, rolling those eyes. ''Because she's good at being cupid, she could help you out, too.''

Okay, maybe she had a point.

''I know Brooke and Julian are like, joined at the hip or something.'' Smack number two. ''Damn it Brooke!'' He glared at her, earning slap number three. _I give up. _''But what can he give to this operation?''

''I'm her lab partner.''

''Okay, he's in.'' Nathan declared instantly.

Julian grinned smugly. ''I thought so.''

The five friends all sat around the lunch table. Sara even had a notepad and pen with her, ready to write down notes which could help Haley say yes to being Nathan's date at prom in a month's time. She and Nathan have been friends ever since freshman year, then they got closer once Sara and Clay admitted how in love with each other they were. She just wants him to be as happy as she is, she's going all out for this one, more than Nathan's actual best friend.

''Right,'' Sara started with her serious tone, like she had the day before. ''Do our new members have anything to share?''

Like he said, she's going all out for this one.

''Oh, yes!'' Brooke exclaimed, even sticking out her hand like she was in a classroom and she was desperate to tell the answer. She suddenly lifted her leg onto the table, showing her brown boots. ''I got these yesterday, aren't they cute? They were totally on sale, 50 percent off, how great is that? Julian said I shouldn't wear them for school, that I should save them for a special occasion, but no one hardly throws parties anymore, do you think I should throw my own?''

No one made a sound.

Nathan held his face in his hands, sighing loudly.

This was impossible, Haley's _never_ going to agree to be his date. Here he is, trying to find out things about her to help with his case to win her over. He doesn't know her favourite food, band, TV show, colour, _anything_. When his friends said that they would help, that gave him hope. But now apparently Brooke Davis' new boots are more important than his love life.

How awesome are his friends?

''Anything to share about _Haley,_'' Clay rephrased it. ''This is what OGHJPWN is all about.''

''You think we can change that name, it's a little big?''

Clay shrugged, looking at his girlfriend. ''GHPWN?''

She grinned and kissed his cheek. ''Perfect.''

''_Okay,_'' Nathan rolled his eyes. ''Now that _that's _cleared up, you think you guys can actually help me now?''

''I followed Sara's lead and wrote a list, too.'' Clay declared, grabbing his notebook from his back pack and ripping out a page. He handed it to his best friend with a triumphant smile on his face. ''It's a couple of ideas that Sara can add to the main list.''

Nathan smiled. Maybe his friends _do_ care more about his love life than Brooke Davis' new boots after all. He looked down at the list.

His smile fell.

_OGHJPWN ideas by Clay Evans__ :)__  
><em>_Idea number 1. Threaten all the guys in the school so they don't ask her out.__  
><em>_Idea number 2. Follow her around so you can 'accidently' bump into her in her favourite places (she'll think it's fate or something like that- chicks dig that stuff)__  
><em>_Idea number 3. Blackmail her with... maths or something.__  
><em>_Idea number 4. Buy her a necklace.__  
><em>_Idea number 5. Sing her a song. No, pay someone to sing her a song. You can't sing to save your life... No offense or anything.__  
><em>_Idea number 6. Make friends with Lucas so she'll give you a chance._

He scrunched the paper up in his hands and threw it at his honey blonde friend. ''Dude, these suck. Blackmail her with maths or something? Are you an idiot?''

''They can't be _that_ bad.'' Julian grabbed the piece of discarded paper that had landed on the table, he smoothed it out before reading the messy scrawl. He laughed loudly, tilting his head backwards. ''Clay, number two basically said _stalk her._''

''It said _follow her around._ That's different.'' Clay insisted with a scoff. ''It's not like he's going to kill her or something.'' He looked back at the basketball player. ''And Nate, that took me the whole of first period. You could have at least said thank you!''

Nathan glared at him, sighing.

GHPWN wasn't going so good.

''Anyone else got any bright ideas?'' he questioned half-heartedly, suddenly feeling all gloomy.

_She's not going to say yes, is she?_

And why did that revelation cause a strange pain in his chest? And why does it feel so heavy, like it's about to drop into his stomach? Is this what a heart attack feels like, or some other type of heart related problem? Damn it, now she's messing with his heart, too!

Jake Jagielski jogged over to their table, slightly breathlessly. He tapped Brooke on the shoulder. ''Uh, Brooke. I need your help with something.'' he stated. ''Do you know Lindsey, my best friend?'' he questioned, almost painfully.

''The one that you're in love with?''

His eyes widened. ''Uh- what? W- how did you... uh, what?''

Brooke rolled her emerald green eyes mockingly. ''Jake, it's so obvious. She just broke up with her boyfriend, right?''

''Yeah,'' he breathed. ''That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I heard you were, like, the cupid of the school. So, when do you think I should tell her how I feel? I don't think I can wait much longer.''

She turned to Nathan, grinning. ''You hear that, Nate? The cupid of the school.'' She looked back to the wavy haired boy. ''Well, you just need to be there for her. You can't be the rebound guy. Just be the perfect best friend, and show her that you could be more. Give it at least a month until she's moved on, because they weren't together _that long._ Then tell her how you feel.''

Jake's mouth broke out into a huge smile. He patted her shoulder randomly. ''Thanks Brooke, really, thank you.''

''Your welcome.''

Once the clueless boy had left, Nathan had definitely had enough.

''You know what? I don't need you guys,'' he declared. ''I can do this on my own, so you can stick your GHP... whatever it's called! And your lame ideas, and your ugly boots. I can be romantic, I can think of some things. I'm gonna convince her to go to prom with me if it's the last thing I ever do.''

Brooke gaped at him. ''_Ugly boots_? Nathan Royal-''

''Uh, Brooke.'' Julian interrupted her softly. ''He's already gone.''

She sighed, glaring at his retreating figure. She stood up and shook her fist in anger. ''You better watch your back, Scott!''

* * *

><p>He held onto the rose tightly in his hand (but not too tight so he'd like, squish it and stuff, he's not an <em>idiot<em>) as he strolled down the corridor, feeling a familiar sense of déjà vu wash over him. He got funny looks from people in the hallway, but he didn't care, he was totally being romantic like those guys in chick flicks and he's not afraid to show it.

...Which he _doesn't_ watch. Okay, maybe one time, but Brooke _made_ him!

''Haley,'' Nathan called, jogging up to her.

She turned to him, groaning audibly immediately. ''Yes, Nathan?''

Why did the way she said his name make him feel all mushy?

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, feeling his hands suddenly become all clammy. ''I, uh,'' He held out the rose. ''I got you something.''

This was the part where she was supposed to smile, or swoon (_Thanks, dictionary-dot-com_), or kiss him senseless.

Instead she sneezed, all over the rose with the special red ribbon wrapped around the stem.

''You jerk!'' she exclaimed angrily, glaring at him, which he was getting quite used to. ''I'm allergic to roses. Did you know that? I bet you did, didn't you? I bet you got Tim or one of your other followers to find out everything about me to mess with me.'' She looked at him in disgust. ''I know you have a problem with Lucas, but just leave me out of it.''

''I'm not-''

''Save it.'' Haley snapped, turning and storming down the corridor, wiping her now red eyes.

Nathan sighed, leaning against a random locker and running a hand through his dishevelled hair.

How was it possible that it went worse than yesterday?

And damn it, why did it hurt so much?

* * *

><p>Nathan slumped into his final class on the day, his spirits still low from his earlier encounter.<p>

He spotted a free seat in front of Sara and Clay, who had already spotted him and were grinning smugly after spotting the dejected look on his face.

_Some friends,_ a grumbly voice spoke up in his mind, laced with sarcasm.

''Okay,'' he gave in as he plopped in the hard, plastic chair. ''I need your guy's help.''

The teenage couple both crossed their arms over their chests, their _I'm so awesome right now_ looks still on their faces.

''They all come crawling back to GHP...WN in the end.''

Nathan frowned. ''Uh, I'm the only person who left?'' he stated in confusion. ''And this whole thing only just started yesterday.''

Clay scoffed with a typical eye roll. ''_Details._''

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Wow, I definitely didn't expect the response I got. Thank you all so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I loved writing it. If you haven't guess, this story is Nathan based. It's Nathan's feelings, conversations. Everything to do with Haley's feelings will be what Nathan thinks she feels, if that makes sense. I just wanted to let you know:)

**goldenbabe - **My vacation is officially over now, but it was okay, it rained half of the time, haha. This story is so random, I saw the advertisement for the PROM movie, then I just thought I'd do a one-shot with N asking H to prom, but then it turned into this. All of my favourite pairings are in this story, some more were revealed in this chapter. Even Jake and Lindsey. Thank you so much for your lovely review!:)

**GottaLuvNaley - **Thanks so much for reviewing:) I've not watched Never Been Kissed in years! But I remember that part of it, so I put it in, I'll have to watch the movie again some time.

**naley13 - **I'm really glad you liked the first chapter. Thank you for reviewing!

**C - **Thanks for your review. I'm so glad that you liked it:) I'll try and update as much as I can.

**Cuteyfruity - **Hey, thanks for reading and reviewing this! This was supposed to be a one-shot, but then it just turned into a story, haha. I keep coming on MSN but you're never there:/ Thanks again:)

Please review. I really want to know if I should continue with this! And I'll try and send a preview, too. **x**


	3. Chapter Three

''Why are we here?'' Nathan questioned, scrunching his nose up in displeasure as he looked at his surroundings. Kids, adults, old people were everywhere. He preferred to be in his own pool. His quiet, warm, peacful swimming pool. ''I have my own pool, why are we going to the community one?''

Brooke smirked, clutching onto Julian's hand as they walked slowly along the side of the small pools to get to the bigger one. ''You'll see.''

''But _you _have your own pool, too. And so does Julian. Clay and Sara don't, but they can always use ours.'' He looked around and frowned. _Where did they go?_ ''I don't like public ones!'' he whined childishly. ''Don't kids, like, pee in the pool or something?''

''Julian!'' she screeched, bouncing up and down on her feet, looking at him in alarm. ''They don't, do they?''

Julian chucked at his girlfriend, shaking his head in amusement. ''No, Brooke, they don't.'' He looked in the distance and smiled in relief. ''There she is!''

''What are you talking ab-''

His breath caught in the back of his throat.

_There she is._

She was sat on the edge the bigger pool side, her legs dipped into the water as they swung them absentmindedly as she watched something in the distance, a _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs_ smile on her face. The black bikini that she was wearing fit her perfectly, showing her tanned skin and toned stomach that you could never tell was there from the baggy t-shirts and jeans that she usually wears.

''You're welcome,'' Julian whispered over to him cheekily.

Nathan turned to his sort of-friend, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as he looked at him in bewilderment. ''How?-'' he paused. ''You knew... You knew that she was here?''

''You're welcome.'' he repeated. ''Lab partners, remember?''

''Can you be my new best friend?''

Brooke giggled. ''Try and impress her, don't be a jerk.'' She tugged on her boyfriend's hand. ''We're going to swim, just come and find us when you fail and we can go home.'' The couple started to walk to a deeper part of the pool, not in the shallow, kids part where Nathan's crush was sat. ''Bye, Boy Toy!'' she called over her friend.

''_When I fail?_'' he mocked in a shout over the laughter of the people playing in the water. ''Thanks, B!''

He took a deep breath the prepare himself. It's not like he really cared about prom. It wasn't really about that, actually. He just wanted a romantic, cheesy way to let her know that he cares about her. He wanted a night to prove to her just how special she was to him, and how much he wanted to be with her. He knows she hasn't been with anyone before (_Thanks, Tim and your creepy ways of knowing things_) so she deserves epic romance, and Nathan wants to be the one to give it to her.

He walked over to the shallow part, where children played with blow up toys and floats with their parents. She had yet to notice him.

''Uh,'' He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before poking her shoulder.

That was supposed to make him feel less awkward.

...It didn't work.

She turned to look at him, her eyes widening in frustration (but she did check his bare chest out though, he totally noticed). ''Are you a little rich to be coming to a community pool?'' She snorted, rolling those deep browns. ''Don't you have your own pool or something?''

He sat down next to her on the edge, dangling his feet in the water, just like her. ''So you've been doing your homework, nice.''

''Was that supposed to be an insult?''

''No,'' Nathan shook his head instantly, before smirking. ''I just didn't know that you knew that about me.''

''You mean you're surprised that I didn't know the richest guy in the school had a pool? I didn't, it's just pretty simple to figure out. Plus, you had a pool party a couple of months ago.'' she remembered. ''And you made a _really_ special effort to rub it in Lucas' face that he wasn't invited.'' Her voice started to grow bitter. ''_Nice._''

His face softened. ''I, uh, Haley. You know that thing with the rose... I didn't know you were allergic, I swear. I mean, how could I know that? I just wanted to do something nice,'' he insisted. ''Sorry that I upset you.''

Haley shrugged, smiling softly. ''I know you didn't know. I just... wanted to hurt you.'' Her eyes widened, presumably realising how horrible that sounded after seeing the distraught look on his face. ''I know how that sounds. But you make his life _hell _and he has never done _anything_ hurt you. He's- he's the nicest guy I know. He's like a brother to me. He doesn't deserve you starting fights and stealing his clothes and throwing him in mud.''

''I know,'' he said, barely above a whisper. ''But I need him off the team, or my dad's gonna make my life hell.''

''Like you're making Lucas'?'' she quipped immediately, before stopping to register what he had just said. ''Why would he make your life hell?'' Haley asked, her voice gentler.

''He pushes me, like, all of the time to be better. And I try to be better, I really do. But it's never good enough. And ever since Lucas joined it's gotten so bad that I feel so weak sometimes, I can barely stand. He makes me run for miles, practice for hours, do weights that I can barely lift. If Lucas goes away, then maybe my dad will stop.''

_Wait, did I just say that?_

Those were deep, inside thoughts. Ones that he never shared with anyone, because Nathan Scott is confident and tough. He doesn't get bullied by his father, he doesn't feel guilty for torturing his brother, he isn't _vunerable._

Apparently, he is.

He heard a intake of breath amongst the chatter of the other visitors at the community pool.

''Whoa,'' she breathed. ''It's that bad?''

Nathan nodded silently, looking down at his hands, not knowing what to say.

''He's not going away, you know. The more you try and hurt him, the more determined he is to stay. I'm not going to let him quit this, he's wanted to be on the team for so long. You need to stop this, Nathan.''

_Nathan._ There she goes again, saying his name and making him all mushy, especially with the soft way that she said it. He shook his head away from those Haley thoughts (even though they're completely awesome) and focussed on the topic he was supposed to be thinking about. It hurt to think about how his dad calls him names and bullies him, but his mom never does anything about it, so he's stuck. ''But then when is it going to stop?''

''When you make it.'' she said simply, as if that's what it was.

''How?''

''Well,'' Haley mused, pausing for a moment. ''How does he pressure you exactly?''

''He tells me I'm not good enough. He says that I'm never going to beat his record, and that Lucas has a better shot at it than I do. He calls me weak- _pathetic._''

''_You're not._'' she promised sincerely. ''And once you know that, you just ignore it and stop doing what he says.''

''It's not that easy.''

He could tell that she was getting frustrated (he doesn't really blame her though, she just wants to protect her best friend) when she huffed.

''Your dad, he's not good enough because how come they didn't win the state championships? That makes him weak, that makes _him_ pathetic. So when he says that stuff to you, just picture him saying that to himself.''

Nathan actually chuckled at that, picturing one of those times when Dan's been cruel to him. ''That sounds like a pretty good idea, actually.''

She mock saluted mockingly. ''Tutor girl, right here.''

''So, _Tutor Girl_, why are you here, anyways? In the shallow end with a bunch a kids.''

''Kinda creepy, huh?'' Haley giggled.

Oh God, what a sound. ''Just a little.''

''I'm here with my little cousin, Chuck. He's around here somewhere.'' She looked around, smiling when she saw him. ''I take him out some weekends when his mom's working... or drinking.''

''Why aren't you swimming then?''

''So I can get trampled by all of the kids swimming? No thanks.''

He wasn't about to question her on why she was wearing her bikini if she wasn't even swimming. He didn't want her to go and take it off or anything, he's not crazy. What sane guy would want their crush to change out of her ridiculously hot swimming attire into something else less hot?

''Well, if you wanna keep an eye on your cousin, then I could swim with you?'' He flashed a grin. ''I'll protect you, promise.'' _Smooth..._

She looked at him blankly. ''No.''

_Guess not._ ''Why?''

''I still don't like you.'' Haley told him. ''You may have a reason for being a jerk, but that doesn't mean that it suddenly makes it okay.''

Nathan covered the pain he felt with another smile. ''I guess that's another _no_ to prom then?''

''That's another no to prom.'' she confirmed with a nod. It was silent for a moment until she shook her head, ''I told you, I'm not a joke. I'm not _your_ joke.''

''How many times? You're not _Josey Grosey_!'' he exclaimed, gaining odd looks from the people around.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him, a humourous smile tugging on her lips. ''How did you know about that? Did you _watch_ the movie?''

''...No.''

''Oh my God, you so did!'' She laughed, making him swoon (a total manly swoon, obviously).

''Well, you mentioned it, and I told Sara what you said,'' He noticed her blush slightly. ''So she rented it, and when I was at Clay's, she came around and put it on. Clay, like, worships the ground she walks on, so he didn't tell her not to.'' Nathan explained lamely before looking at her earnestly. ''But... do you think I'd really do that? He threw eggs at her and told her to write a poem or something, that's cruel!''

''It's not _real_, Nathan.'' she teased.

Nathan rolled his eyes, his smile widening. ''Well, you seem to think that I'd do that to you.''

''Not that _exactly,_ just something along those lines.''

''I wouldn't,'' he promised.''I couldn't ever do that, especially not to you.''

''Why?''

His eyes widened, taken aback. ''What?''

''Why _not to me_?''

''Because you're...'' _Don't freak her out. Don't freak her out. _''Nice.''

She snorted. ''I'm not nice to you.''

Nathan shrugged. ''Yeah, but I still like you.'' His smile widened even more when hers did and her blush darkened. He made her do that, _him._

''You'll get over it,'' Haley rolled her eyes, her expression now neautral, her voice clipped.

_She still doesn't believe me,_ he realised. ''I doubt that.'' It stayed silent for a moment, until he spoke again, hoping to lighten the mood, ''So, where is your cousin then?''

''He's around here somwhere,'' she said, her mouth curving up into a smirk. ''You know, I'm surprised that he hasn't _Chuck'ed_ you yet.''

He frowned. ''Ch-''

A body burst from under the water, causing water to fly everywhere. A fist reached out and punched him in the stomach, winding him. ''CHUCK!'' a young boy's voice shouted in triumph.

_I hate kids._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Wow, you're all so nice! Your reviews bring a huge smile to my face. Especially when you say that it's funny, I really didn't think I was that good at humour. I don't really think there was any in this chapter, it was mainly Naley. He's winning her around, _slightly,_ you like? I know it's taken me a while to get this out, but I've almost finished MTMTE so once that's done, update should be sooner.

**Cuteyfruity - **Oooh, you're out of town? Are you having a good time? I hope you are:) Thanks so much for reviewing. I'm glad you liked it. I hope to talk to you soon, too!

**jj - **Aw, thanks for being so sweet:) Not any Clay in this one, sorry. But he'll be back in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

**goldenbabe - **Thanks so reviewing! Haley can't stand Nathan after how much he's tormented Luke, so it's going to take a while for him to win her around. I hope you stick around for all of that. I like sensitive and vunerale Nathan too, it's sweet to write. Thanks again:)

Please review! **x**


	4. Chapter Four

_''Okay,'' The teacher clapped his hands together with an excited grin on his face (yes, he knows that they're in a school). ''Now, the last time I let you choose your own partners, Mr. Smith set his paper on fire,'' He glared at the snickering boy. ''So today, I'm choosing.'' He smiled at the classes groan. ''Don't cry about it, it's only until class ends.''_

_A pout formed on Clay Evans' lips as he scrunched up a piece of paper out of his girlfriend's notebook and threw it at the teacher (who had turned around, Clay's not that stupid), hitting the back of his head._

_The teacher surprisingly chuckled. ''Clay, I had paired you with Sara, I guess I'm gonna change that now...'' He scribbled something on his piece of paper._

_Nathan snickered as Sara slapped her boyfriend's shoulder, yelling at him in a whisper._

_''Brooke Davis and Lindsey Strauss,'' The teacher announced, reading off his list. ''Chase Adams and Owen Morrello, Clay Evans and Ian Kellerman, Sara Kay and Julian Baker...'' he continued to read of the list before he finally got to the last names. ''Nathan Scott and Haley James.''_

Who? _was his first thought._

_Then he turned to look at her._

Wow, _was his second._

_She ran her hands through her auburn hair in obvious frustration, but not objecting with the teacher (_nerd, _he instantly guessed). She made no effort to move, she just glared at him with the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen._

_That didn't matter anyway, considering he was already standing up and walking towards her._

_It was like she was holding some type of magnet, or she _was _a magnet and he was some type of metal and he was just completely drawn to her. It was freaky, really freaky. But that didn't mean a huge smile wasn't on his face as he reached her, plopping down on the free seat next to her._

_''Why did the chicken cross the road?''_

_She raised an eyebrow, looking at him like he was insane._

_''To get away from you?'' she questioned rudely, not seeming fazed when his smile fell._

Is she that girl that Tim threw a stone at last year? _he wondered, shaking his head away from those thoughts when he realised that the girl he was thinking about was tall, really tall, nothing compared the this girl. Oh, and her hair was bright blonde, too._

_''She- she wanted to stretch her legs.'' he stuttered._

_''What?'' she asked, her lips curving up into a small (slightly freaked out) smile._

_''...That was the joke.''_

_She actually giggled loudly, rolling her eyes. ''That was lame.''_

His eyes suddenly shot open. He brought a hand up to his head and rubbed the place where the piece of scrunched up paper had just hit him. Nathan sighed, already missing his memory of the day he officially met his crush. He opened the paper ball and smoothed it down to remove the creases.

It was the Clay's idea list, only this time he had underlined one of the points.

Idea number six.

_Idea number 6. Make friends with Lucas so she'll give you a chance._

_...You know you want to._

Nathan turned around and glared at his friend, who was grinning at him innocently. He shown him his favourite finger, mouthing a 'hell no' as he did so, causing Sara to look at him disapprovingly.

''Mr. Scott,'' the teacher growled, regaining his attention. ''Seen as you looked _so interested_, why don't you tell us the name of the lead character in the book?''

''Uh...''

Clay raised his hand, not waiting to be chosen. ''Is it _Chuck_, sir?'' he asked, trying to appear innocent as he chuckled, while his girlfriend tried to stifle her giggles. Even Julian laughed across the room, not even trying to cover it, as Brooke whacked him on the back of the head (something she loves doing to her boyfriend now, too).

Haley turned around from her place at the front, looking at him sympathetically.

She mouthed the word 'sorry'.

He forgave her instantly.

''Is Chuck violent, sir? Does Chuck pick on _not so strong_, scared teenagers? Like... Nathan?''

Clay, not so much.

* * *

><p>Nathan spotted the guy with the similar eyes across the quad, eating a sandwich as he babbled on about something to the wild, curly haired girl across from him, who was drawing aggressively on her notebook, barely paying attention to the dark blonde across from her.<p>

(Lucas obviously didn't notice the ear buds in her ears).

''I think you should talk to him, you know.'' Julian said, dumping his tray on the table and sitting down.

Nathan frowned, realising that they were the only two on the table. He's never really spent much time with Julian alone, he's a bit of a dork, but in a nerdier way than Clay is. They only talk because of Brooke; he's only ever spoken to him about Haley. It feels strange.

''Who asked for your opinion?'' he asked defensively.

Him and Lucas, its like, a no go subject. Clay is allowed to, it's a weird invisible rule that only he is because they've been friends for so long. The goofy boy knows all of the ins and outs of the Scott family drama; he practically is one of them. He knows why Nathan harasses Lucas (and disagrees with it) and he knows why it's so difficult to stop. He knows how Dan drills Nathan, he knows all the pressure he has, he knows why.

Clay, he was just hoping that Haley was the answer.

''Hey,'' Julian lifted his hands up defensively, grinning jokingly. ''I thought I was your new best friend.''

Nathan scoffed, rolling his eyes.

''Kidding,'' he said. ''But Nate- _Nathan,_ I think you should talk to him. Not for you, but for _Haley._ I talk to her, man, and she said that he's like a brother. She even said that she wants you two to get along because Lucas deserves it. She just wants what's best for him. What you're doing to him, is insulting _her_ family, too. She's never going to give you a chance until you give him one.''

His eyes widened as he processed that information.

''Julian, you're like a _spy_!'' he exclaimed suddenly. ''That's so cool!''

The mathlete chuckled. ''Whatever, dude. Just think about it- think about Haley. This could be the only way she could be your prom date, and you've gotta do it quick, there's only a couple of weeks left.''

Nathan took a deep breath, swallowing his nerves. This was actually pretty big. He's going to make amends with Lucas... for Haley. The guy that hates him, the guy that shares his genes and all that scientific stuff, the guy that doesn't want anything to do with him.

...It's gonna be tough.

Especially with his father. Dan wants to Lucas off the team, he wants him back in the shadows where he used to be. Everyone talks about them around town, he's sick of it. Nathan's just his puppet. He pushes him harder and harder to be better than his brother, if he isn't, then the insults really start to kick in. It hurts, physically and emotionally.

But this is for _Haley._

That could possibly make all of this worth it.

''Okay,'' he muttered, nodding slowly. He pressed his hands on the table, pushing himself up. ''I'll just... go on talk to him then...''

''Good luck,'' Julian grinned, sending him a cheesy thumbs up.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he turned towards the table, relieved (for once) to see that Haley wasn't there. He didn't want her to know that he was only doing this because of her, because then it wouldn't seem sincere. But who knows, maybe Lucas is actually pretty cool?

He snorted aloud at that.

''Um, hey.'' he said awkwardly once he reached the table.

Lucas looked up, his eyes narrowing at the sight of his half brother. ''What do you want, Nathan?''

Nathan didn't like the sound of his name if Haley wasn't saying it.

..._That's strange,_ he realised.

''You here to make fun of me, again?'' Lucas continued, his tone harsh. ''Or to threaten me?''

''No,'' Nathan shook his head. ''I wanted to... I want- Actually, I came here to...'' he trailed off for a second. _Forget your pride man, you can do this. _''Apologise.''

Peyton ripped the ear buds out of her ears, looking at him wide eyed.

Lucas laughed bitterly. ''You really expect me to believe you? You want us to become friends so you can trick me to do some weird... Josey Grosey thing?''

_What is it with them and that movie?_

''C'mon dude,'' he sighed. ''I'm not _that_ mean.''

Peyton chortled, covering it with a cough.

''Just leave us alone, man. All I wanna do is play basketball. I'm not taking your spot, I'm not trying to be captain, and I'm not trying to be the best. I just want to go to college, not all of us can afford it, you know.'' Lucas said, slightly calmer. ''I don't want any trouble.''

''I don't,'' Nathan insisted. ''Not anymore.''

''Yes you do!'' Peyton exclaimed, eying him warily. ''That's all you do, cause trouble. You're not hurting him again!''

''It's not like that!'' he shouted back defensively.

''It always is with you!''

Nathan felt completely overwhelmed. All he wanted was a nice, mature, conversation with Lucas to hopefully build some bridges and gain some trust. Enough trust to make Haley want to at least be his friends after Lucas informed her. But now, it doesn't look like that's actually going to happen.

''I just wanna go to prom!'' he blurted out.

The two blondes looked at him strangely.

_Crap. _''I mean... I asked Haley to prom, and I really wanna go with her but-''

''You're going to prom with Haley?'' Lucas questioned, his voice loud and demanding as he stood up, preparing for a confrontation.

''No, he's not.'' a soft voice said from behind the younger Scott.

_Double crap. _''Haley,'' he turned around to her, sighing. Can he ever catch a break? ''I didn't mean-''

''I told you, I'm _not_ going to prom with you.'' Haley stated, using her free hand (the other was holding onto her lunch tray) to point at him warningly. ''I told you that. And if you think that you could just use that to annoy Lucas, then you're a bigger jerk than I thought you were.'' She looked at him disappointedly. ''I said _no._''

He tried to control the emotions showing on his face, even though it felt like a truck had just smashed into his chest. ''I wasn't impl-''

''Just go away, Nathan.''

He didn't like how she was saying his name now. She was just so... _ashamed_ of him, he could tell, it was written all over her face and in his words.

Nathan looked at his... brother- _half_ brother. ''I'm sorry, okay. For everything.''

He stormed back to his table, noticing that his other friends had joined them. He sat back down in his previous spot, sending a quick glare to the mathlete. His eyes then fell on his best friend who had obviously been filled in by Julian on what he had just been doing, his expression was sympathetic.

''Your ideas suck.''

* * *

><p>His blues landed on her as she walked down the hallway, books in her arms that are held protectively over her chest. Her expression was gloomier than usual, in a selfish way he hoped that it was because of him. At least it a sign that she feels something for him, even if it is a huge sense of hatred.<p>

Panic shot through him when he saw her trip over nothing and fall to the floor, those books flying everywhere.

And before he knew it, he was hurrying towards her.

''Haley,'' Nathan breathed, grabbing her elbow gently and helping her off the floor. He gathered her books quickly, handing them to her once she stood up straight. ''Are you- are you okay?''

She tucked a piece of hair behind her hair, her face bright red in embarrassment. ''Um, yeah,'' she mumbled. ''Thanks.''

''You're quite welcome.''

''I have to get to class,'' Haley said quietly, turning to leave.

''Wait, Haley,'' he said, smiling in relief once she turned around. ''I- uh, I really want... I really need you to know that you don't think I presumed you'd go to prom with me. I'm just still _hoping,_ I promise. And I wouldn't use that to get to Lucas. I really want him to know that I'm sorry. You've helped me realise that it was wrong.''

She smiled softly, making his widen.

''I know.'' she said quietly. ''I'm- I'm sorry. I believe you, really, I do.''

''You don't have anything to be sorry for,'' he assured her. ''I know, I'm a jerk. But... I don't wanna be like that anymore, and it's all because of you.''

Her smile widened, the _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs_ one. ''Just for the record, I think you could be a really good guy. Trying with Luke, that's a great start.''

''Well, do you let good guys walk you to class?''

''That depends, has Lucas forgiven you yet?'' she questioned, smirking.

Nathan laughed, despite himself. ''Not yet. Haven't you heard? I'm off to a _great_ start.''

She thought about it for a moment, before giggling. ''I guess that could be okay, too.''

His heart stopped as he bit the inside of his cheek to stop his smile from looking _too_ excited. _Play it cool, Nate._

Maybe GHPWN was a good idea, after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Wow, you guys are so nice! Thank you for your lovely reviews. I seem to have a lot of anonymous reviews, which is really sweet. I've almost finished MTMTE (I've got one more chapter to write) so after that, there'll be more updates:-)

**Brutus - **Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, I do think Nathan is a little too vunerable, but he'll show a little darker side pretty soon, don't worry. I don't really think Nathan was kissing Lucas' behind in this chapter, but that's up for you to decide. Lucas isn't actually after Nathan's spot, he's just convinced that he's out to get him. He needs to learn that Luke is a nice guy. Thanks again(:

**kutebloo - **Thank you for reading and reviewing! I love Sara and Clay, too:)

**Cuteyfruity - **She has, see! She's finally giving him a bit of a chance. But you know what I'm like, I prolonge the actually getting together more than necersarry. Thanks for your review!

**marie - **Thank you for reviewing. This is my fourth update in... nineteen days, I think. I think that's pretty good compared to other stories that don't even update once in that time. I have school work to do, too. And it seems like everyone's birthday is this month, so I'm pretty busy. But I'm glad you're enjoying this. Thanks again(:

**anonymous - **You didn't sign a name, but thanks for reviewing:)! If I've left you some nice feedback, then your story must be awesome because most of the time my reviews suck. I'm definitely continuing the story, I can't never not finish one. I'm glad you like this. Thank you!

**goldenbabe - **Nathan getting Chuck'd on the show made me laugh, I needed to write it somehow. She's warming up to him even more now:) And yep, I'd definitely check him out shirtless too! Thanks for reviewing:)

Please review! **x**


	5. Chapter Five

''_The duck walked up to the lemonade stand and he said to the man running the stand, hey..._''

''Bom, bom, bom.''

''_Got any grapes?_'' Clay sang, popping one into his mouth.

Nathan grinned with a laugh, lifting his hand up for a high five. Today he was in a much better mood; it was so good that he had even joined in on one of Clay's song moods. All because of the events of yesterday. Not because of what happened with Lucas, but simply walking Haley to class. Most of it had been spent in silence, and the other was him babbling about whatever, but that wasn't the point.

The point was, the whole time she looked just as happy as he did.

_Nathan - 1._

_The weird twisted universe that seems to not want them together - 0._

Julian said that he might have locked Haley up in a basement, _that's_ why he was so happy.

But then Clay had reminded him that Nathan probably didn't know where the basement was in that big house of his, so that theory went away.

(And they had just saw Haley with Lucas).

''You guys are so weird,'' Brooke told them, eating a forkful of pasta.

''Thanks,'' Clay responded with a smile.

''Hey guys,'' Sara said, sitting down next to her boyfriend, kissing his cheek. ''Why's Haley sat on her own?''

Nathan eyes landed on her instantly, the pace of his heart increasing. She saw sat with her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she looked down at the book lay on the table, her eyes scanning over the pages. Anyone could tell by looking at her that she wasn't herself. She didn't look necessarily sad, but she didn't look like she wanted to jump and do cartwheels either (which would be totally hot).

''Lucas and Peyton better not have fallen out with her because of what you said yesterday,'' she said, her voice low as she glared at her boyfriend's best friend. ''She needs to come and sit with us.''

He immediately felt guilty. ''I didn't-''

''Wouldn't that just make it worse?'' Clay questioned, interrupting him.

''Being friends with us is better than no friends at all,'' Sara reasoned, smiling slightly. ''I'll go and... _convince_ her.''

Nathan's eyes followed his blonde friend as she sat across from his crush, chatting animatedly, instantly spreading her infectious lively spirit, like she always seems to do. Haley still looked doubtful as Sara tried to persuade the tutor to sit with them. But eventually, she closed her book and slipped it into her bag before standing up and slowly following Sara to the table.

''Hey Haley,'' Clay grinned. ''I'm Clay.''

She waved shyly, sitting down next to the boy's girlfriend, exactly across from Nathan. ''Hi.''

''I'm Brooke,''

''Oh yeah,'' Haley nodded, as if she hadn't known before. ''I'm lab partners with your boyfriend.''

''Lucas and Peyton are on an art field trip,'' Sara explained.

Nathan's smile widened. So it _wasn't_ his fault. ''Oh, uh, that's... _cool._''

Clay laughed, covering it with a cough. ''S- s- _smooth._''

''Hey guys,'' Julian said, carelessly dumping his lunch tray onto the table and taking a seat next to his girlfriend. ''So, any more ideas for GHPWN?'' It was clear he had been practicing to say it without no mistakes. ''Because I was thinking,'' His eyes widened when he spotted the girl next to Sara. ''I mean- oh, hi Haley.''

''Hi Julian,'' she laughed. ''What's GH... whatever?''

''A movie.''

''A project.''

''A store.''

''School should sell toast.''

Haley looked at Clay strangely, an amused look on her face. ''Uh, I think they sell toast in the cafeteria in the morning.''

Clay faked a smile. ''Oh, thanks.''

Nathan glared at his best friend. And Clay called _him_ an idiot? ''GH... PW- uh- N. It's a...'' He paused for a moment. _Think Nathan, think!_ ''Good House... Party Walk- With! Newbie's.''

''Um, yeah!'' Brooke exclaimed. ''It's this idea that Julian had for freshman who are new to throwing parties. He thought that I could make some money by... training them on where to buy the best alcohol and what music to play and who to invite and stuff like that.''

''Aren't you really, really rich?''

''Well, I like helping people.'' she shrugged sheepishly.

Nathan looked at Julian, sending him a _I'm gonna kill you_ look. ''The money's gonna go to charity, right B?''

''Yeah, sure.''

Haley grinned, looking impressed. Lots of people thought Brooke Davis was a shallow, air headed slut. Nathan knew that wasn't true. Before she met Julian, she had went a little too wild at parties, but she wasn't like that anymore. She cared about clothes and fashion more than school work and tests, so people got those opinions of her around school. Nathan could already see that Haley's opinion might be changing.

''That's really sweet, Brooke.'' Haley said earnestly.

''Well,'' She almost looked bashful. ''Nathan's helping, too.''

He could hear the sound of heels come closer, he turned around and saw Carrie stopping behind Clay, smirking at him with a hand on her hip. ''Hey Nathan,'' she practically purred, looking around at the table, her nose scrunching up in disgust at the sight of the tutor.

Nathan didn't like that.

''What do you want?'' Sara demanded, her eyes narrowing. The two have never gotten one. Carrie was in fact the school slut. The same school slut who had hit on her boyfriend a couple of months back, resulting in a fight which led to a three day suspension.

''Nothin','' She shrugged. ''I was just wondering when you guys started looking after the charity case.''

He looked over at Haley, who was looking down at the table, clearly trying to control her anger. He had never been unpopular, but he could understand how hard it would be to stand up to someone who's desperately trying to hurt you and put you don't for no reason at all.

_''Well, I have some information for you, challenged friend.'' She laced her hands together and rested them on the table in a serious manner. ''You know Carrie? The one who asked you to prom the other day when we were sat here?'' She waited for him to nod before continuing, ''Well, I know she's started picking on Haley a couple of weeks ago, for no reason at all. I'm in their gym class, she kept making comments about her. It was awful.''_

_Nathan frowned, his blood immediately boiling. ''But I worked with Haley in class a couple of weeks ago.''_

_Sara nodded. ''That's probably why then,'' she said. ''Maybe that's another reason she said no. She might be afraid that Carrie's going to keep picking on her.''_

''You wanna say that again?'' Brooke stood up, pressing her hands on the table and leaning forward. ''Don't push me.''

''Apologise,'' Nathan ordered, looking at her warningly. ''Apologise to her, _now._''

Carrie's face fell, looking slightly stunned. ''I- uh, Nathan...'' Obviously her 'joke' was supposed to make him laugh.

He didn't even crack a smile.

''You don't talk to my friend like that,'' he stated. ''Now _apologise._''

''I'm- uh.'' Carrie swallowed thickly in defeat. ''Sorry, Haley.''

Haley nodded silently, her lips pressed tightly together.

''You can leave now,'' Brooke stated, glaring at her. Once the ex-cheerleader (a whole other story. Lets just say that Brooke doesn't like people hitting on her boyfriend, either) turned around, she took her seat again, looking at the tutor sympathetically. ''Haley, are you okay?''

''I'm fine,'' she insisted, shrugging nonchalantly. ''She always makes little comments about me, I'm kinda used to it.''

Clay frowned. ''Why?''

''I don't know. She's knocked me in the hallway sometimes, she's made comments about me in gym. Oh, and she's started throwing balled up pieces of paper at me in Chemistry.''

''Why don't you do anything?'' Sara questioned softly.

''I just... I don't wanna get into trouble- jeopardize my future because of her.'' she explained sheepishly.

''We'll protect you, Tutor Girl.''

Everyone's eyebrows shot up.

''Tutor Girl?''

Brooke giggled at how everyone questioned her simultaneously. ''Yeah, it's a new nickname, do you like it?''

''That's cute,'' Nathan complimented, looking directly at his crush. ''You got any other nicknames?''

A small blush rose to her cheeks, making him go crazy. ''Uh, Luke calls me Hales.'' she said, showing the _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs_ smile.

He grinned in response.

(His stomach also fluttered when her smile widened).

(...Because of _him_).

* * *

><p>''You called me your friend.''<p>

His eyebrows raised questioningly as he tried even harder to slow down his pace as he walked her to class (Clay is so wrong, he _is_ smooth). The rest of their lunch had spent with his friends trying to get to know Haley better; it even helped him get to know her better. She was smiling the whole time, forgetting about the whole Carrie thing. Nathan doesn't know the last time its felt this good just being around someone.

''I mean, is that what we are?'' she corrected after seeing the look on his face. ''To Carrie... you called me your friend.''

Nathan tried to appear nonchalant as he shrugged his shoulders. ''Well, if you're not going to prom with me, then I supposed it wouldn't be _too_ awkward if we were friends.''

''If Lucas is okay with it.''

He didn't really like the sound of that. ''I could talk to him again to apologise.''

''I don't think he wants apologize, I think he just wants to know that you're serious. No offense, but sometimes it's pretty hard to take you seriously after some of the crap you've pulled with him.''

''None taken,''

''I really like your friends,'' Haley informed him. ''They're not like I thought.''

Nathan chuckled as they approached her classroom, trying to cover his disappointment. ''I know, they're really awesome.''

''Neither are you,'' she said softly, he almost didn't hear it.

''Huh?''

''You're not like I thought either.'' She blushed, making him _really_ want to kiss her. ''You're- you might actually be a really good guy.''

His heart literally flipped as he beamed.

Then it almost _burst_ when she stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek lightly. ''Thank you for walking me to class,'' Haley mumbled against it, her hot breath tickling his skin, making it tingle.

_Smooth._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I'm sorry it's took so long! I was trying to finish MTMTE and my ego was a little bruised when all of those anons dissapeared and I realised that this story isn't all that great. Plus, I've been busy with school, packing for vacation and I got introduced to Parks and Recreation which I'm now addicted to (it's the funniest show around right now, and the couples are adorable) so I've been watching that. Again, sorry! **The song Nathan and Clay were 'singing' was THE DUCK SONG, it's on YouTube and it was in my head. I didn't create it and don't own it.**

**Cuteyfruity - **I finished my Parks and Rec marathon! It just gets better and better, especially now Ben and Chris are there. And I told you I was excited for Andy and April, then they happened and I was all, ''OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS!'' I just thought I'd tell you on here because I don't know when I'll talk to you again. Thanks for reviewing hun!

I don't like those stories that say, ''Review or it'll take me longer for me to update.'' And I never really understood it, but now I guess I do. Reviewing just lets me know that people are reading and still like it, it lets me know that I should continue. I am definitely finishing this, I promise. But reviews just give me that push to write quicker, so please let me know what you think! **x**


	6. Chapter Six

Nathan unzipped his backpack and took out some of the books he revised with (yes, Nathan Scott _revised_) last night and placed them in his locker, replacing them with the ones he needed for his first couple of classes. Over the weekend he had been relishing over the fact that her lips touched his cheek, sometimes he even thinks he can still feel it. But after thinking about it, a kiss on the cheek isn't a yes to prom. He's decided to (_try_) not get his hopes up too much.

''Nathan,'' a breathless voice called, approaching him quickly.

He looked at Sara strangely when she wrapped her arms around him tightly, muttering a, ''I'm so sorry.''

''Uh, Kay, what happened?''

Sara broke away from their embrace, her green eyes wide as she looked up at him sadly. ''I was in the bathroom with Rachel and she was being really snappy, so I asked her what was up and she told me,'' she paused, contemplating whether or not to continue. ''She told me that Damien West is going to prom with Haley.''

His heart dropped, right into his stomach.

_Nathan - 1._

_The weird twisted universe that seems to not want them together - 1._

''Nathan, I'm so sorry.''

''No,'' he plastered a reassuring smile on his face. ''I mean, she said no, right? She said no again and again and again, I just didn't listen to her.'' his voice grew soft as realisation hit him. ''Of course she was gonna find someone else to go with, prom's in a couple of weeks.''

She smiled (she looked like she felt sorry for him; it made him feel a little sick). ''Maybe you could go with Rachel? Both of your crushes are going to prom together, maybe you could, too. As friends,'' she clarified. ''But who knows? It could be more.'' she winked, her smile falling at the look on his face. ''Okay, maybe just as friends.''

''I-uh, I'll think about it.''

* * *

><p>''Lucas,'' Nathan called, jogging after him in the hallway. He made sure Haley was nowhere in sight (the sight of her made his heart ache, and he didn't want her to hear what he was about to say) before approaching his half brother. ''Lucas, wait up.''<p>

Lucas turned around, looking obviously annoyed. ''Yeah?''

He chuckled dryly. ''You 'let Haley' got to prom with Damien?'' he questioned, using air quotes to emphasise his sarcasm. ''But going with me is such a bad thing? Do you have any idea how much of a player he is?'' he _tried_ to stop his tone from rising. ''Not to mention the fact he's a huge jerk.''

''He's my friend.'' Lucas insisted. ''He really likes her.''

''And so do I!''

''Yeah, but his intentions are pure, unlike yours.''

Nathan scoffed, his blood boiling.

He wouldn't get in _that much_ trouble if he hit him, just once...

''Do you know who you're talking about? This is Damien West. He's the type of guy to actually Josey Grosey her.''

Lucas blinked, bewildered. ''He wouldn't dare.''

''Well done, Luke,'' Nathan spat sarcastically, before shoving past his 'brother' and walking out of the school doors leading to the quad for lunch.

And as he was storming out, he collided with someone.

_The_ someone.

''Sorry,'' he muttered, seeing that she had stumbled backwards but not actually hit the floor. Nathan thought the urge to touch his chest to stop the hurt that had travelled there at the sight of her. Instead, he turned around and started to walk away again.

''Nathan!'' she shouted after him, her little footsteps getting nearer as he turned around, sighing.

''Yes, Haley?''

Haley looked up at him, deep brown eyes looking hurt at his clipped tone. ''I was going to tell you about Damien, he asked me this morning. And... he's my friend, I've known him for a while and I kinda like him. I... I'm sorry, but I don't trust you yet after everything with Luke. But- we're still friends, right?''

He shut his eyes for a moment, sighing again. He didn't even want to be around her. He was just so _angry._

''I- yeah, we're still friends. Don't worry about it.''

She smiled (and it was that damn _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs _one, too). ''Great! I guess I'll see you... whenever.''

''Yeah,'' he nodded, breathing deeply. ''I'll see you _whenever._''

Nathan turned away from her, using all of the strength he could muster to walk away without turning back around to see if she would suddenly going to run behind him screaming, _Nathan, wait! You're really awesome and hot and I want to be your date for prom!_

He had a feeling that _that_ wasn't going to happen.

Sara noticed him approaching first, her smile fading at the sight of him. That same pitying look appeared on her face. ''Hey, Nate. You okay?''

Nathan sighed, exasperated, as he sat down. ''Nobody died. And I know it's a _big shocker_ that I got turned down for prom, but it happened. Like you said, I can go with Rachel. I'm gonna be okay,'' he smiled dryly. ''See?''

''If I wasn't dating Julian, I'd totally go with you.''

''Thanks babe,'' the mathlete muttered jokingly.

Brooke shrugged, grinning. ''You know what I mean,'' she looked at Nathan, her feautures softening. ''We love you, Nate.''

Clay slapped his shoulder (Nathan pretended that it didn't actually hurt, which it did) in a friendly manner.

He actually smiled, it wasn't fake, either.

''I love you guys, too.''

* * *

><p>Prom sucked.<p>

Everyone was singing and dancing and laughing and joking and giggling and looking _happy._

And he was just sat at one of the many table, sipping on the punch.

(Which no one even spiked!)

Rachel was there, sure, but she was just as miserable as he was. They had agreed to attend as friends, even though they weren't even that really, they had actually ever barely spoken two words to each other. But she really liked Damien, more than she probably should, and she just wanted to capture his attention somehow. He didn't blame her. He was doing the exact same thing.

Haley looked stunning, of course. He had spotted her as soon as he walked through the door, looking amazing in a long green dress, with only one strap on the left shoulder, with this awesome sparkly belt around the place where her ribs are. Nathan also noticed that she didn't have a corsage though, even _he_ got Rachel one of those.

He had saw her talking to Peyton, Damien by her side. But he hadn't seen her again after that.

Nathan liked that though, it hurt less if he didn't see her.

But that didn't stop prom from sucking.

''I'm going to get some fresh air,'' he informed Rachel, who shrugged in response.

Nathan walked out of the doors of the gym (No, TRIC wasn't even rented out for the Junior prom) and took a deep breath. He considered leaving, but he promised Sara and Brooke that he would stay, and they would kill him if he left. But everyone looked so happy with their dates, while he feels like crap. He hates it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quiet sobbing from one of the benches around the gym.

The sound was coming from a girl wearing a long green dress.

''Haley?''

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Eeek, I'm sorry! I just- this story has taken a completely different direction to what I had planned. I've narrowed this down to ten chapters (all of which will be bigger than this little thing), and hopefully they'll all be posted by Tuesday, so that's like, an update, like, every day. Woo. And the name chapter, full of Naley, okay. No one else.

But I do feel bad because your reviews made me want to cry, you're so nice! Thank you all so much(:

**C - **Thank you(: Haha, I don't think Nathan could ever be '_un-smoothed' _but only time will tell. I hope you're still sticking with this after this chapter. Thanks again!

**Willimer23 - **Yep, Haley will stick up for herself with Carrie, thanks for the suggestion! But it will be in the next few chapters. And defensive Nathan is hot! Thanks for your review!

**sinkorswim13 - **I wouldn't call myself amazing, but thanks for the compliment(: Lots more NH interaction in the next chapter, promise! Thanks for reviewing:D

**FrankiR - **Thanks for your review(: Prom's already here, but who knows? Maybe Nathan and Haley will get their prom together after all (Well I know, but, you know) I'll try and update tomorrow! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

I know you all probably hate me, and even if it's a review to tell me how awful I am for making Haley go with Damien, I'll still appreciate it. So please review! **x**

_ps. I did have a picture of Haley's prom dress, but my charger's broke so I have to go on my brother's so I don't have the photo. I'll post it on my profile when my new charger arrives!_


	7. Chapter Seven

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quiet sobbing from one of the benches around the gym.

The sound was coming from a girl wearing a long, green dress.

''Haley?''

Nathan fought the urge to gasp. There she was, black lines down her face from the weird stuff girls put on their eyelashes and her hair (which had earlier been in a fancy twist at the back of her head) now had little pieces sticking out of place, she had obviously been running her hands through it as she cried.

She looked up at him, wiping her tears away hastily. Haley sniffled, forcing her self to smile a little. ''Um, hey.'' Another tear rolled down her cheek, which she didn't bother to wipe away.

''Haley, what happened?'' Nathan asked softly, walking over to sit next to her on the bench. He placed a hand on her back carefully, rubbing his hand on it to try and comfort her somehow. ''Please don't cry.''

''You know,'' she sniffed. ''I deserve a big, fat 'I told you so'.''

''Well, you're not gonna get it from me.'' He half smiled. ''Hales, what happened?''

Haley took a deep breath, leaning into his touch.

(His heart skipped a beat).

''I, uh, it started great. No Josey Grosey thing or anything like that. He was a gentleman, but then he pulled out this key card for a hotel... for tonight.'' She wiped her cheeks, clearing the fresh tears that had fallen. ''I- I said no, that I'm not like that. I didn't want my first time to be with someone I barely know. He... called me prude and just _stormed off._''

I'm gonna kill him, he swore.

She looked up at him, giggling slightly as she sniffled. No more tears had fallen. ''No, don't.''

Oh, did he say that out loud?

''He doesn't deserve you,'' Nathan stated, moving his arm up to her shoulders to hug her sideways. ''Neither do I. But your first time is supposed to be special, right? I was drunk at some stupid party, and I barely knew the girl.'' _Crap._ ''Which probably doesn't give you a very good impression.''

Haley giggled again, leaning her head against his shoulder. ''It doesn't. But I didn't have a good impression of you anyway, so...'' her laughs escalated, making him smile.

He made her laugh. It was _him, _that was.

''Gee, thanks.''

She stayed silent then, her head still on his shoulder. While Nathan had to remind himself how to breathe. He had never felt like this before. And he felt like a real pansy, having a huge crush on a girl and acting like a complete and utter idiot around her. It was humiliating. But at the same time, it felt so good, just simply feel so happy in one moment, just because of one person.

''Let's go and see a movie,'' he announced, standing up quickly, temporarily forgetting that she was leaning against him.

Haley raised an eyebrow. ''Nathan, its prom.''

''I can't go back in there in case I kick Damien's ass, and I don't think you can in case you do the same.''

''Look at me,'' she looked down at herself. ''I can't go to the movies like this.''

''You look amazing.''

A blush rose to her cheeks as she looked down, contemplating his offer. Haley lifted her head up, holding out a hand. ''You're quite charming, you know that?''

This time it was his turn to blush as he shrugged nonchalantly. ''I try,'' Nathan took her hand, lifting her up. ''Besides, we can just be two really rich people going on their first date.''

The two then walked away from the school, laughing with each other along the way.

(He didn't let go of her hand).

* * *

><p>''I forgot how far away the movies was from school,'' Haley muttered, lifting up her foot to rub her now sore ankle as they walked at a slower pace towards the movie theatre. ''We should have stolen a limo or something.''<p>

''Haley James, you badass.''

''Shut up,'' she muttered, hiding a smile as she placed the shoe back on her foot properly. ''Damn it, these shoes hurt.''

Nathan stopped walking, a certain glint appearing in his eye. ''I'll give you a piggy back ride then.''

Her eyebrows rose as she looked at him in disbelief. ''Nathan, you can't be serious.''

''Deadly,'' He nodded. ''C'mon, we're almost there and I don't want you to ruin your dress.''

She bit her lip as he squatted down. Haley lifted up her dress slightly before taking off her shoes and jumping on his back and wrapping her arms around his neck as he tucked his arms beneath her knees to hold her up properly. He chuckled as he started to walk again, feeling her rest her chin on his shoulder as they got nearer to the movie theatre.

''I didn't know you were so strong,'' she commented.

''Don't lie, don't think I don't see you checking me out, like, _all the time_, James.'' Nathan smirked. ''You see my muscles.''

''Shut up, Mr. Big Ego.''

He chuckled, realising that they had reached the back of the theatre car park. ''See, I bet you wouldn't have gotten this far in those shoes.'' he paused. ''Which are really nice, by the way.''

''Thank you.''

Nathan could practically _hear_ her grin.

He placed her back on the ground once they reached the main doors. She put on her shoes quickly, attaching the straps and wiping around her eyes, trying to clear any marks of the black gloopy make up stuff, which had already faded after she wiped it with a tissue from her purse at the beginning of their journey earlier.

''Okay,'' she smoothed down her dress. ''How do I look?''

''Beautiful and way too overdressed for the movies.''

Haley pointed an accusing finger at him. ''I told you!''

''Yeah, but we can be just act like snobs.'' He winked at her as they approached the ticket booth. ''Follow my lead.''

She giggled, taking his hand in hers.

_Breathe Nate, breathe._

Nathan looked at the ticket guy, who looked like he was in his mid-thirties. ''Hello,'' he said in a formal, posh tone. ''Two tickets for,'' he glanced at Haley, who mouthed the word 'bridesmaids' to him. ''...Bridesmaids?''

The ticket guy snorted, tapping something into his ticket machine, eying Nathan in his tux and the girl next to him in the formal gown. ''You're a bit dressed up to see a movie, aren't you?''

''Well,'' Haley chipped in, mirroring his posh tone from a second ago. ''One likes to get dressed up when one goes to see a movie.''

Nathan chortled, covering it with a way too over dramatic cough.

''Isn't it Tree Hill High prom tonight? You look like you're about to go there or something, my sister's there right now.'' the guy commented, taking the money Nathan had handed to him.

''We don't go to _public school._''

''Daddy would never allow it,'' Haley chipped in, her lips pressing tightly together to fight the urge to laugh.

The ticket guy discreetly rolled his eyes, handing them the tickets.

Haley giggled as he pulled her into the lobby. ''Did you see his face? He thinks we're totally stuck up. And you actually bought the Bridesmaids ticket? It's a girly movie, I didn't think you'd actually agree to see it.''

''It's a girly movie? _Great._''

''Thank you, Nate,'' she grinned as they reached the concession stand. Haley reached into her purse, for some strange reason she had brought money with her to prom (he did too, but he had been using that to get beer after prom), though she froze when he already pulled his wallet out again. ''Nathan, let me pay for this...''

''Nope,'' he said, popping on the 'p'. ''It's my treat.''

''You've already done too much...''

Nathan chose to ignore her as he looked at the concession stand employee. ''Uh, two cola's and an extra large box of popcorn, please.''

* * *

><p>She burst out laughing, her drink almost spluttering out of her mouth if she hadn't swallowed it sooner. ''No way, they jumped into a lake?''<p>

Nathan chuckled, munching on the popcorn that they hadn't finished during the movie as they walked along the random rude. Neither of them knew where they were going, he just hoped that Haley was too happy simply being here with him to care. ''Yeah, it was supposed to be romantic until Clay hit the water and panicked, thinking he was drowning. Sara tried to shut him up by kissing him, but it didn't really work.''

''Wow,'' Haley breathed. ''They are cute though, Clay and Sara.''

''I guess,'' he shrugged. ''They always buy each other a bar of chocolate every Friday, because it means another week since they've been dating. They haven't missed a week yet. If Clay did, I think she'd kill him.'' Nathan chuckled, shaking his head at the oddness which were his best friends. ''It's kinda sweet.''

Nathan then realised that they had found themselves arriving at the river court, causing his smile to widen.

Basketball + Haley = Heaven.

(You know, without actually dying and stuff).

See, he can do math. Easy.

''Dance with me,'' he said suddenly, holding out a hand like he had done earlier.

''There's no music.''

Nathan snorted. ''Well done, Sherlock.'' he mocked. ''But c'mon, haven't you seen romantic movies? You have to dance at prom. We could be like... Allie and Noah without the roads.''

She raised an eyebrow, her lips curved up into an amused smile.

''...Julian made me watch it.''

Haley rolled her eyes, giggling slightly. ''If that's your story.'' She took his hand though, her laughs escalating as he pulled her to the centre of the river court, placing a hand on her side. And slowly, and awkwardly, they started to slowly sway to the sound of the wind as the small waves in the lake bobbed along the water.

After a couple of minutes, her soft voice broke the silence, ''Nathan?''

''Mm?''

''Thank you for saving my prom- saving _me._'' she whispered against his chest. ''I've had a really, really great time with you.''

His heart started to race frantically, even more so when he feared that she would be able to feel it. ''Um, yeah, you're welcome. Any time.''

''Is that a promise?'' Haley drawled, dare he say it, _flirtatiously._

Nathan chuckled at the words that were about to come out of his mouth. ''It's a pinkie promise.''

She pulled away from his chest and looked up at him, smiling brightly. ''You know, despite the fact that you used to torture my best friend-''

''-The key word there is _used to_-''

''-That's two words. And anyway,'' she glared at him mockingly. ''You're actually kinda like... a prince.''

''Haley James? Did someone slip some alcohol in your soda?'' _She's kidding. She's kidding._

Haley shook her head, giggling. ''Nope,'' She slapped his chest lightly. ''I'm being serious. You're so sweet to me, even though I turned you down, you defended me in front of Carrie and you gave me the perfect prom, even if we didn't spend it dancing with our friends and drinking un-spiked punch.'' Her brown eyes grew wider as she looked at him earnestly. ''What I mean to say is... I'm sorry,'' she whispered, before elaborating, ''For not giving you a chance sooner.''

''It's okay,'' he shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. ''Not everyone appreciates my _smooth_ness the first time around, or the second, or the third...''

She laughed, rolling her eyes teasingly. ''You have your moments,''

''Pfft,'' Nathan scoffed. ''I got you a rose, and I _didn't_ know you were allergic to. And I got punched in the stomach by your cousin, which _really_ hurt, by the way. Then remember when you fell?'' He smirked slightly at her blush. ''I helped you up, and walked you to class! _Moments._ Moments, my-''

_Best. Interruption. Ever._

The feeling of her lips on his was like heaven (basketball and her were great and all, but her interrupting him with a kiss was so much better). His lips moved in sync with hers as a soft moan escaped her mouth as it became more heated as she pressed herself closer to him.

Haley James just kissed him.

Haley James just _willingly_ kissed him.

_Oh. My. God._

He broke away breathlessly, a dreamy smile on his face. ''That was kinda smooth, James.''

She beamed in response, her lips slightly swollen and eyes wide in... _happiness._

''Kinda?''

Nathan guided his face towards hers, kissing her again, softer than the first. ''_Very._''

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Too fast? Did you guys like it? Eh, I'm still not sure what I think of it, to be honest. And also, I'm really sorry for not replying to reviews, I had no time because I've been pretty busy today and I really don't feel well. But thank you all so much! I thought you all hated me, but I got a really good response, so thank you!

And I'll try really hard to reply to reviews tomorrow, so will you please let me know what you thought of this? **x**


	8. Chapter Eight

_(Here's a Haley based chapter, awesome people!)_

She brushed her hair quickly, while taking a bite of a piece of toast. Late, she decides to wake up late today of all days. She didn't sleep much the night before; the butterflies in her stomach were too wild. It had taken her _hours_ to get to sleep, hours!

Haley thought that they would have gone away by now. Prom (or the best night of her life, whatever) was Friday, and now it's Monday. Was it sad that she had missed him? Him, the guy she couldn't stand weeks ago because of how he treated her best friend. She thought he was using her to get to Lucas, she thought he would Josey Grosey her, she thought he was trying to hurt her all this time.

She was wrong, _so_ wrong.

He had abandoned his own prom to take her to the movies- to _walk_ with her to the movies. Then he bought food, and watched the movie with no complaints, and danced with her by the river, Noah and Allie style.

It was perfect.

Nathan made her feel like she was the most special girl in the world. She felt like she was _floating. _Before now, she had never understood how girls could get all mushy and stupid over boys, but now she does, completely.

It was fast.

She had changed her mind about him slowly; with every little thing he did she had started to warm up to him more and more. And then prom, it was like she was actually beginning to _crush _on him. The other week, she felt a hate towards him. And now, she has _feelings_, real romantic, loving feelings towards him.

It was-

_Knock. Knock._

''Jamie, get the door!'' Haley shouted to her little brother, hurrying up the stairs to grab her bag and quickly brush her teeth. She groaned inwardly at the sight of her in the mirror, wild, wavy hair. So she grabbed a hair tie from the side table before hurrying down the stairs, tying her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head, praying that she hadn't missed the bus.

She froze when she saw Jamie still stood at the door, chatting animatedly to the person on the other side.

''Jamie, what are y-''

_Oh, my God._

''Hi,'' she breathed, beaming at the person at the door.

Nathan waved awkwardly, blushing slightly. ''Uh, I wondered if you wanted to walk to school? It could be, like, our _thing._''

_He's too cute,_ she thought, her smile widening. ''I'd really like that,'' Haley said softly, readjusting the bag on her shoulder. She looked down at her little brother. ''Jamie, mom's upstairs, go and wait with her until Madison's mom gets here to take you to school.''

''I wanna stay with Nathan,'' he stated. ''He was telling me about basketball.''

She laughed. ''I bet he did,'' she narrowed her eyes at him. ''Now scoot.''

Jamie sighed, pouting as he turned away from the teenagers and walked up the stairs in a sulk.

''I hope this isn't weird,'' Nathan said, kicking invisible stones on the porch. ''I just, we didn't really talk about what happened, and I really wanted to see you, I haven't all weekend.''

He's totally feeding at her ego right now, she knows it.

''Did you miss me, Scott?'' she questioned, smirking slightly as she walked out of the door, shutting it behind her. Haley followed him down the porch steps and they walked side by side, their arms brushing against each others as they made the walk towards Tree Hill High.

''Not as much as you've missed me, of course.''

Haley rolled her eyes, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks. ''I was thinking,'' she began to change the subject. ''We should keep this... _us,_ a secret for a while. I need to talk to Luke before we make any big decisions. He's not gonna like this.'' she said, matter-of-factly.

She had expected him to object, instead he grinned. ''Is that what we are, an _us_?''

Her blush darkened as she gaped at him for a second, her mouth opening and closing like a gold fish. ''I, uh... Well,'' she smiled slightly. ''Uh, if that's what you want,'' she finally said, before whispering, ''Too.''

''Yeah, of course I want that,'' He grinned. ''_Too._'' he paused. ''Hales, you're, like, the most awesome person _ever._ And I had a crush on you, but after Friday... it's so much more. And I wanna be with you properly, but if that means keeping it a secret for a while, then fine. But only if you want that too.''

Haley bit her bottom lip, not being able to stop the huge smile that formed. Little butterflies were going wild in her stomach. ''I do,'' she said softly. ''I'm really stupid for not realising it sooner.''

His smile widened as they continued to walk to school, not really knowing what to say to each other.

But as their hands continued to brush against each others, they simultaneously intertwined their fingers.

She suddenly felt like a thirteen year old, blushing and gigging and not knowing what to say or do around a boy, making even a simple hand hold make her feel like a pile of goo. In a good way, though- an amazing way.

''So does this mean we're dating?''

''Yeah,'' he chuckled. ''I'm pretty sure it means we're dating.''

''Should it be this...''

''Awkward?''

Haley giggled. ''Yeah.''

Nathan stopped walking suddenly, letting go of her hand and grabbing her face gently, bringing his lips to hers for a powerful, knee-weakening kiss. She gasped slightly, closing her eyes and melting into him, holding onto his shoulders as their lips moved in sync for a moment, before both stopping to look at each other.

''I like you,'' he breathed. ''In a romantical kind of way. And I don't care if it's awkward, or hidden, I just wanna be with you.''

''You already are,'' she brought a hand up to his cheek, cupping it. Haley leaned her face closer to his and kissed him softly. She got a sudden wash of paranoia as she looked down the road, making sure no one had saw. They weren't far away from the school now; cars were starting to drive past with students inside.

Haley patted his cheek lightly. ''Wait here for a few minutes, then start to walk to school. We can't get caught. Meet me at the quad, like, ten minutes after school ends, people will be gone by then. Then we can walk home, too.''

''Sounds good,'' he smirked. ''But I will talk to Luke though, sneaking around gets old pretty fast.''

''Thanks,'' she nodded, before turning away to continue walking to school with a slight skip in her step. Haley had never felt this _giddy_ before about anyone, it felt unbelievable. She still can't get her head around the fact that _Nathan Scott_ likes her, the most popular guy in school. Yet she still felt guilty about keeping them a secret. But losing her friendship with Lucas is something she couldn't bear, so Nathan and his brother need to be on speaking terms, at least, before she tells him, that's the only chance that Lucas _might_ be okay with the idea of his brother and best friend dating.

As she entered the school, she saw Damien. She didn't want to look at him, or think about him really. It hurt, what he did to her. But it hurt because he called her a prude and suspected she would have sex with him when they weren't even dating, they weren't even friends, really. It was humiliating.

So she turned down a different hallway, deciding to go to her locker before homeroom.

''Hales,''

''Hey,'' she said to Peyton who had quickly caught up with her. ''What's up?''

''Are you finally gonna tell me what happened at prom and where you went? You can't keep it a secret forever.''

Haley stuck her tongue out playfully at her best friend (well, her girl best friend. They were mainly friends because Peyton and Lucas had been dating for so long, it was only natural that it was going to happen. Despite that, Haley loves her almost as much as the blonde Scott brother). ''I told you, I wasn't feeling well and went home.''

Guilt washed around in her stomach.

Peyton is completely and utterly devoted to Lucas, she won't like the fact that Nathan and Haley are now officially dating (and have been for four minutes and forty nine seconds) either.

''I'll get it out of you eventually, James.'' Peyton winked at her, smiling when she turned to her right and saw her boyfriend approaching. ''Hey Luke,'' she greeted him with a kiss, her smile widening when he wrapped an arm around her waist.

''Did you get her to tell you yet?''

''Nope,'' Peyton popped on the 'p', continuing to talk about her like she wasn't there. ''She won't say anything.''

Lucas looked at his best friend in concern. ''Damien didn't do anything, did he?'' he sighed, running a hand through his hair with his free hand. ''Damn it,'' his voice grew quieter. ''Nathan _said_ that he'd hurt you...''

Her eyebrows shot up. ''Nathan what?''

''He- uh, he said that Damien would be the type of guy to 'Josey Grosey' you.'' he snorted. ''But then he said that _he _really likes you, what a load.''

Peyton glared him. ''Was it Damien? Did he do something?''

''I-''

The shrill bell rang, echoing across the halls.

''...Gotta go,'' she smiled at her best friends. ''See ya.''

* * *

><p><em>My friends have been asking me all day about where I disappeared to, I said I got kicked out for spiking the punch(: What was your excuse? x<em>

Haley giggled at his text, quickly sending him a reply saying that she still hasn't thought of a good, believable one, adding a smiley face and a kiss like he did. Jeez, even his texts make her all giddy inside. It was kinda scary, but the amazing feelings that she felt totally overpowered those fears.

''And if it isn't the prude,''

Her stomach dropped as she turned to the familiar voice.

There he was, Damien West, his arm wrapped around Carrie's shoulders as they leaned against the wall near the doors of the inside cafeteria.

''Fuck you,'' she spat, clutching onto her bag with one hand, squeezing it so tight that she was surprised she hadn't stopped the blood circulation in her hand.

Carrie laughed darkly. ''What's up, _Hales_? You upset because I could give him something that you couldn't?''

''An STD?''

Her face fell. ''You better watch it, or I'm gonna-''

''You're gonna _what_?'' she snapped, her eyes wide as she stared back angrily at the girl who's been teasing her for months.

She can't take it anymore, she's snapped. It may be thanks to how brave she feels, just being Nathan's Scott's _secret_ girlfriend. But really, she knows it's not about that. This is her standing up for herself, which she's finally got the guts to do. For once she's not worried out getting into trouble; she just wants Carrie to know that she's going to take all of that crap she throws at her anymore.

''You're gonna hit me? Call me names?'' Haley continued, getting closer and closer to the ex-cheerleader with every word she said. ''You gonna put me down? Well, it doesn't matter because I don't care anymore. Not about you, or _you,_'' she glanced at Damien. ''Because at least I have enough self respect not to be someone like you. I won't hit you, because then I would be. Just leave me alone, Carrie, because my friends are gonna stop listening to me soon when I tell them not to 'talk' to you. You know Peyton Sawyer, right?''

Carrie gulped, obviously stunned by the sudden _fire_ of the James girl.

And yeah, everyone around school knows that Peyton Sawyer can kick anyone's ass.

Even Damien didn't say a word.

''Okay,'' Carrie nodded, surprisingly.

Haley smirked, saying, ''Good.'' Before she turned and walked past the cafeteria and towards the quad, her head held high, feeling pride wash over her.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out and read the text message.

_I'm proud of you, you bad ass x_

Her smile widened when she looked up, seeing Nathan leaning against a tree, not far from the cafeteria doors where Carrie and Damien were stood, in hearing distance.

_Meet me in the tutor centre now, it's empty at lunch x_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Too fast? I didn't really have an outline for this story, I was just gonna do a load of attempts until Haley changed her mind. But then I changed _my_ mind and this story changed, and now I've decided to do ten chapters with no plan. I want to get them all posted by Tuesday, so there'll be another chapter tomorrow if I get this done in time.

Sorry again for no replies, I was at a charity event today and had no time. But I hope you all know how grateful I am for your reviews and support, it really means a lot(:

Woop for my Parks and Rec quote and yey for awkwardness. In my case, anyway, starting a new relationship can be awkward, not all sweep off your feet romantic, I wanted to explore that a little.

Please let me know what you think! **x**


	9. Chapter Nine

The warning ball rang, breaking him away from the best make out session, _ever. _His whole body felt like it was on fire as she ran her hands through his hair and his explored her sides.

Well, they _had_ been doing that.

Nathan sighed, unwillingly pulling his lips away from hers. ''I- we gotta go.''

''I know,'' she whispered, her eyes still closed. Haley opened them slowly, her browns dazzling him for a moment. They've only been officially 'dating' for a couple of hours, and yet she already means more to him than any of his previous girlfriends. And none of them have ever managed to make him feel so _alive._

He kissed the top of her head. ''So, uh, you wait for a minute after I leave then walk out, right?''

Haley giggled, swinging her legs off the table that she had been placed on while they were making out, thanks to their height distance. ''You're getting the hang of this, huh?''

''Well, I have practiced once,'' he mocked, smiling at her one last time before walking out of the tutor centre, closing the door again behind him.

Just as he did so, a flash of dark blonde hair strolled past him.

''Lucas,'' he called before having the chance to stop himself.

Nathan didn't know why he was doing this, but he knew that it wasn't just about Haley. For months (even before he officially met Haley James) he had been wondering what it would be like if he and Lucas actually got along without the pressure of Dan on his shoulders. In his head, they were, like, the coolest brothers, _ever._ Nathan knew that life didn't play out like that, but it would be pretty awesome if they didn't fight every other week and actually got along, his game would probably improve too if Lucas actually likes him enough to throw him the ball.

The older Scott turned to him, sighing audibly. ''If you're trying to gloat, just don't. You were right, okay? Damien hurt Haley, I don't know how he did, she won't tell me. But he did, and you were right. Happy?''

''No, I never wanted that,'' he said, his voice softer. He wasn't going to betray Haley's trust and tell Lucas what really happened, she was going to have to do that herself eventually. ''I just wanted to talk to you, properly. I really need to,'' Nathan glanced around the almost empty hallway. ''You wanna meet me at the tutor centre after school?''

For some bizarre reason, after thinking about it for a moment, Lucas nodded. ''Um, okay. Sure.''

''Sweet,''

''Cool.''

They looked at each other awkwardly, before walking in opposite directions of the hallway, muttering, ''Bye.'' in unison.

Nathan walked into class, getting there just before the teacher entered. He took a seat in front of Clay and Sara, next to Julian. Unfortunately (actually, kinda fortunately for Nathan) Brooke wasn't in their class. It was lucky how most of his classes included Clay, Sara, Julian or Brooke, most of them feature more than one of his friends.

And, as expected, two minutes into the class, a folded up piece of paper was thrown onto his desk from behind.

He rolled his eyes as he opened it up.

_Where were you at lunch? It's weird how Brooke noticed that Haley wasn't with her friends either. - Clay._

After checking that the teacher wasn't looking as she babbled about history or whatever, he scribbled back a quick note, saying, _Of course Brooke would notice that_. After double checking (he's _so_ not getting detention because of Clay), he threw it behind him, hearing Clay cheer under his breath for catching it.

_That didn't answer my question,_ was the reply, minutes later.

_I was at the tutor centre, getting tutored._

Clay snorted after reading that one, throwing another one his way. _Yeah, okay, Julian tutors you, remember? He was with us at lunch. You were with Haley, weren't you?(:_

_Don't tell anyone!_

He heard a gasp behind him, followed by one from Clay's girlfriend. Nathan sighed, why do Clay and Sara have to never have secrets, ever?

''So, you're dating Haley, huh?'' Julian chuckled, his arms crossed over his chest.

''How-'' Nathan gaped at him. ''I just-''

''You haven't stopped smiling all day,'' he informed the basketball player quietly. ''Especially since you _both_ disappeared from prom, and haven't been at lunch today. Oh, and I saw you guys kiss this morning, I drove past you guys.''

Nathan was stunned. But if anyone was to catch them out, he was glad that it was Julian.

''Don't worry, I'll only tell Brooke.'' his eyebrows shot up at Nathan's sigh. ''If this gets out and she finds out that I knew, she'll kill me.''

''Good point.''

''But seriously, you guys need to learn to be a little _discreet, _at least.''

* * *

><p>He leaned against the wall next to the tutor centre, trying to appear as casual as he possibly could. The truth is, he's nervous, he's <em>really<em> nervous. He doesn't even know where to begin to justify the way he's treated Lucas since he joined the team. Kidnapping him, stealing his clothes, starting fights, making the whole team hate him. It wasn't necessary. Nathan just listened to all of his father's hate to Lucas, and then he thought he felt it to. Dan Scott is mean, and aggressive. He has this way of making people want him approval, so Nathan treated Lucas the way he did so Dan would think he was good enough.

But Dan shouldn't be the judge of that. Nathan's come to realise over the past few days that he _is_ good enough, and even if he is, then he's still a lot better than Dan Scott.

''Nate,'' Lucas's voice broke him out of his thoughts as he approached. ''What did you wanna talk to me about?''

''Uh, you wanna go in there?'' he gestured to the tutor centre.

The dark blonde haired boy shook his head. ''No, let's talk here.''

''Um... okay.'' Nathan paused. ''I, uh, wanted to apologise, really.''

''Didn't you already do this?''

''It has nothing to do with Haley,'' he objected. ''It has nothing to do with anyone else. I want us to be friends, at least, if you want that too. I just- I regret everything I've ever done to you. I don't wanna be _that guy _anymore, the guy that hurts you because of some weird... jealousy. So, I'm sorry Lucas. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did.''

Lucas looked at him strangely, obviously shocked -stunned, even- by this sudden outburst. ''Wow, um, okay.''

''Okay?''

''Yeah,'' he nodded slowly, contemplating. ''Okay, I accept your apology.''

Nathan frowned, eying him carefully. ''Just like that?''

Lucas laughed, rolling his eyes. ''Not everyone holds grudges. I hate them, actually. Life's too short, you know?''

''Um, yeah?''

''Truce?'' he offered his hand for Nathan to shake formally.

Nathan shook his hand awkwardly, still in complete and utter shock at how forgiving his- his brother is. ''Yeah, okay, um, _truce._''

* * *

><p><em>Crap. Crap. Crap.<em>

He hurried back down the hallway after talking to Lucas for another _twenty_ minutes, like friends do. But when Lucas was babbling about the game, he remembered something, something big, something important, something he wasn't supposed to forget after dating someone for a couple of hours.

_''Meet me at the quad, like, ten minutes after school ends, people will be gone by then. Then we can walk home, too.''_

_''Sounds good,'' he smirked._

''Crap.''

She was already gone.

Nathan ran out of the quad and out of the school car park, through the gates and down the road. He's not sure if he's ever run so fast before. But he had just basically stood up his girlfriend, of a _couple of hours._ She could go all feisty like when she snapped at Carrie earlier (which was totally hot), and just be really mad at him, which would really, really suck.

He finally spotted her, walking down the street a couple of blocks away from hers.

And what he did next, maybe wasn't so smart.

Nathan ran behind her, grabbing her waist to stop her from walking any further.

She screamed.

Because you _don't_ grab girls from behind, especially when they're walking on their own and probably already as pissed as hell.

Haley sighed slightly in relief when she saw it was him.

That didn't stop her from attacking him, though.

She punched his arm, his ribs, his other arm. Any part of his body that he was blocking, she would punch it in rage (it didn't hurt though, have you seen the size of her?). ''You idiot!'' she screeched breathlessly. ''You scared the hell outta me, after you _stood me up! _Now you decide to think I'm being attacked!''

''I think I've being attacked right now,'' he grabbed her wrists gently, giving her puppy-dog eyes. He's never done that before, so he doesn't know if he looks like even more of an idiot right now.

Her eyes widened warningly, as if to say _don't you dare start joking with me._

''I'm sorry I was late,'' Nathan said gently. ''I'm sorry for scaring you, and I'm sorry for being an idiot.''

''Why were you late, anyway?'' she grumbled, looking down at the floor. He liked the think that if she actually looked at him, then she'd smile (because she does that a lot), and that's the reason that she isn't now.

''I was talking to Lucas.''

Haley looked at him (and didn't smile, _darn_), her eyebrows raising. ''What about?'' Her eyes roamed across his face. ''You didn't get into a fight, did you?''

Nathan shook his head proudly. ''Nope,'' he popped on the 'p'. ''I apologised and we made a truce, then I told him why I did everything, and how much my Dad sucks. I think we're friends now, actually. Isn't that great?''

''All of that in twenty minutes?''

''I thought it was weird too, but he said he doesn't like to hold grudges.'' Nathan shrugged. ''Weren't you listening? We're _friends_ now, didn't you want that?''

She looked at him properly then, her lips curving up into a smile. ''Yeah, yeah it was.'' she said. ''Thank you.''

''You're welcome,'' Still holding her wrists gently, he rubbed his nose against hers, leaning in for a kiss. ''But I did it for me too, you know. I've wanted us to make a truce for ages, I've just never really had the courage to do anything about it until now- until _you._'' Nathan kissed her softly, right on the sidewalk, and he didn't care if _anyone _saw.

And apparently, neither did she considering she shook her wrists, making him let go. Haley wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

''Walk me home,'' she commanded lightly once they broke apart.

''Always.''

Haley bumped his hip with hers teasingly as they started to walk to her house. ''Are you happy?''

''I'm really happy,'' he answered honestly. ''Why?''

''I meant about this thing with Lucas,'' she giggled. ''But that's good to know, too.''

''Well, just for the record Haley James,'' Nathan drawled. ''My one day girlfriend, you make me very happy.'' he shrugged. ''This thing with Lucas, I guess we'll see how it goes. Maybe we have nothing in common except basketball, and you.''

''Well, I'm always good.''

''Yes you are,'' he said softly, earning a blush from her.

(It was, like, one of his favourite things about her, that cute blush).

A couple of minutes later, they reached her house. He followed behind her up the porch steps, his hands stuffed in his pockets. ''So I guess-''

''You wanna come inside for a bit?Madison's mom will be dropping Jamie off soon, and I'm looking after him until my mom gets home, but we can watch a movie or something. He'll be annoying and demanding, so I totally get if you say no, an-''

''I'd love to.''

She looked at him in surprise, her face brightening. ''Okay, great.''

A car pulled up outside the hour and the little boy opened the door quickly, stumbling out of the car and saying a fast goodbye toMadison, before running up the porch, looking at Nathan with a big, wide grin on his face. ''Hey Nathan!''

''Um, hey buddy.'' He glanced at Haley awkwardly.

He's not very good with kids.

Not that he, like, is rude to them or anything. But he's never been experienced with them. Sara is the only one in his group of friends who has a younger sibling -her name's Becky, she's six- but they mainly hang out at Clay's so Becky is never there. He doesn't know how to talk to them, what games to play with them, how to entertain them. He doesn't really understand them, considering his childhood was spent (and still is) playing basketball and training with his father.

When he spoke to Jamie this morning, he just asked _do you play basketball?_ and then Jamie had fired a load of questions at him about how good he is, and if he can get the basket in the net. Even though the little boy would know basketball related things from Lucas. Luckily, Haley had appeared in time so they could leave.

''Can you play basketball with me?'' the little boy questioned, his blue eyes staring at him.

''Jamie, Nathan doesn't-''

''Sure Jamie,'' Nathan interrupted, grinning at the two.

Maybe he isn't very good with kids. But for Haley, he'll give it a good shot.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I feel like I'm going really fast with this fic, but I hope you guys like it. There's only one chapter left! But when I return from my vacation, I'm going to start writing my new fic. So if you're interested then add me on author alert(: And if you want a preview, PM me or let me know in your review so when I write the first chapter, I'll send you a preview of that before I post the whole thing.

Thank you all for your amazing reviews! They're really appreciated(:

**C - **Thank you! I'm going on vacation on Wednesday so I'm trying to get all chapters posted by then, so the last one will be here tomorrow. Bad ass Haley is always awesome, I love writing that! Thanks again(:

**kutebloo - **Thanks for reviewing(: The secret dating will have to come to an end seen as it's the last chapter tomorrow, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

**Willimer23 - **Thank you:D! Yeah, who doesn't love bad ass Haley? I love writing anyone trashing Carrie, because she sucks. Thanks again!

**FrankiR - **I'm glad you thought it was better than them going to prom together. I was really worried that people wouldn't like that. But yey! Thanks for your review:) No need to thank me, I love writing this, it's the reason I'm thanking _you_ for reviewing!

**Cuteyfruity - **Thanks for all of your reviews, I really appreciate it! You _need_ to finish Parks and Rec, the last few episodes are full of Andy/April and Ben/Leslie cuteness, it's hilarious too! Luke hates Nathan, and if Haley got with him then he'd obviously be upset. Haley loves their friendship too much to lose it. And I'm glad you liked their 'date'. Ah, but the story is almost other, so it's nothing but cuteness;) Thanks again, girly(:

Please let me know what you think! **x**


	10. Chapter Ten

**_Eleven Months Later._**

''Go, go, quick.'' she whispered urgently, throwing his t-shirt in his face. ''They can't know you're here!''

Nathan quickly slipped the t-shirt on, opening the bedroom window. He had become skilled at jumping onto the tree and scuffling down between the house and the big chunk of wood. It didn't mean that he wasn't scared in case a) It went wrong and he fell and died. Or b) Jimmy James caught him.

It wasn't like they had sex (last night anyway, that is), but Nathan sleeps there almost every night and Jimmy and Lydia don't have a clue, seen as he climbs through the window at night and sneaks out early in the morning. But they had woken up late this morning, and Lydia or Jimmy would be coming in soon to 'wake Haley up' or worse, Jamie. He would tell them instantly.

''Just in case I die,'' he breathed, approaching the window. ''Remember that I love you.''

Haley giggled, rolling her eyes mockingly. ''You say that every time, just go.''

After reaching the ground (and yes, not dying), he hurried to his car, hoping that Jimmy hadn't noticed that it had been there all night. He drove out of the driveway quickly, stopping at Clay's house to get changed, then driving back to Haley's so they weren't late for school. They still had their tradition of walking (even on rainy days, but Nathan liked those better, those were the days they'd sometimes make out on the way home as the water soaked them), but Nathan left his car at Haley's house so he didn't have to walk home everyday.

He bounced up the steps, knocking on the front door.

The door opened almost immediately, his girlfriend on the other side, wide eyed.

''He knows!'' she hissed.

Nathan grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the house and down the porch steps. He smiled when he heard her giggles behind him as they ran down her street, further and further away from Jimmy James who would probably call one of Haley's brothers to attack him (it has almost happened before), or even do it himself with a baseball bat. Sure, Jimmy James was pretty cool. But he wouldn't appreciate Nathan staying over for the night- he's already made that clear.

When they were a block away, Nathan stopped, grinning at her breathlessly.

''Good call,'' Haley panted, lifting her hand up for a high five.

He slapped her hand, chuckling. ''How did he find out?''

Haley scrunched her face up in mock confusion. ''Your car was in the drive way all night, that made it not difficult to figure out.'' she shrugged. ''He's kinda pissed, and I _think_ he and my mom tried to give me The Talk before you arrived. But if you avoid the house for while then you should be okay.''

''Nice,'' He took her hand in his, starting to walk again.

They didn't have to worry about being 'caught out' anymore, because three weeks and five days into their relationship, they had decided to Lucas. Nathan's relationship with his brother had been improving greatly each and every day; they had put aside their differences and decided to give their friendship a shot. Haley couldn't take lying to him any longer, so she told him. Lucas had been angry because of the lies, and he had not spoken to them for days.

But then Nathan went to visit him...

_He knocked on the front door, sighing over the fact that he had to do this in the first place. Nathan thought that Lucas liked him, he thought that he would trust him with Haley. It was offensive. Well, he didn't _have_ to do this; he just couldn't bear Haley's sulking any longer, so he had decided to put a stop to it._

_The door opened, and Lucas leaned against the doorway, his arms folded across his chest with a blank expression on his face. ''Yes?''_

_''Listen,'' Nathan began with another agitated sigh. ''You're her best friend, she didn't want to hurt you. She hated me in the first place _because_ of you. But she knows I'm not that bad guy anymore and so do you. She's- she's the kindest person I know. And if you asked her to, she'd probably break up with me. But please don't make her do that,'' he pleaded. ''Because she's the only person who believes in me, and I _can't _lose her. So, even if you don't forgive me for keeping it from you, then at least forgive her, she's pretty lost without you right now.''_

_And without another word, Nathan offered a small smile before turning and walking down the porch steps._

Nathan glanced down to the item in her hand, frowning once he did so. ''Who's the gift for?'' He looked strangely at the fancy packaging. He didn't remember anyone's birthday coming up...

''It's Brooke and Julian's one year anniversary.''

''Wait,'' His eyebrows raised. ''We have to get them a _gift_ for that? It's not an achievement!''

''It kinda is these days,'' she shrugged, smiling up at him. ''Don't worry, I signed it from both of us. _And _guess what? It's our one year anniversary in a month.''

Nathan scoffed. ''I already knew _that._ And I'm gonna get you the best gift ever.''

The truth is, he had no idea what to get her.

Whoops.

''Really?'' Haley drawled, wiggling her eyebrows playfully. ''Oh! Does it involve chocolate?''

''I said I'm _going to_ get you it, not that I've actually bought it yet.''

''Oh,'' she pouted. ''Well, I still have no idea what to get you.''

''You don't have to get me anything.''

''_Everyone _says that, but they really mean that they don't want to sound rude, but they do really want the person to get them something.'' She shrugged. ''So you should just tell me what you want now before I buy you a crappy gift and you 'loose' it.''

''I honestly don't want anything,'' he said... _honestly._ As cheesy as it sounded, her being is was a gift in its own.

Haley rolled her eyes, elbowing him in the ribs weakly. ''Crappy gift it is then,''

Nathan brought his hands up to his lips and kissed it softly. ''Fine.''

The two walked through the school gates, heading to the direction of the quad where their friends were sat. When Nathan and Lucas became friends, Peyton also started to get close to Nathan's group of friends. She had started talking to Brooke and they had become friends, their feisty attitudes combining and turning into something magnificent. So now the trio of blondes sat on the table with the 'cool kids'.

It was quite strange, actually, that they sat together, a group of four couples.

None of them had broken up, not even once.

(Well, there was that time when at Clay's party at his beach house when Lindsey got drunk after Jake admitted he was in love with her, because she was totally freaked out that he felt the same way, and scared from what he expected of her. Anyway... she had pounced on Lucas, attacking him with kisses, right when Peyton walked in).

(...It had taken _weeks_ of Lucas' mom's cookies and endless apologies, even though it wasn't his fault, for her to forgive him).

''Happy anniversary,'' Haley said in a sing song voice, not noticing how it wow-ed people, as she placed the small box in front of the couple, who were both looking at each other all lovey-dovey like.

Brooke clapped her hands together excitedly with a squeal. ''Ooh, thanks Haley.''

Nathan coughed loudly as he sat down. ''And Nathan, too.''

''Thanks Nate,'' Julian said, chuckling as he girlfriend ripped off the bow and wrapping paper.

Brooke pulled out the two small tickets, squinting to read the words on them.

''It's for this eighties movie night,'' Haley informed them, quite proudly. ''They're showing back-to-back eighties movies at the theatre, but it's like fancy dress too, and there's a party afterwards with free food. It sounds pretty cool. There's like, The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles and G-''

''Grease 2.''

Nathan chuckled at Julian's awe struck voice and expression ''That's Julian's favourite movie,'' he informed his girlfriend.

''I bought me and Nathan tickets too, so you won't be alone. It could be like a double date thing.''

Brooke grinned at the girl in front of her. ''Thanks Haley,'' she sent a glare in Clay and Sara's direction. ''My _best friend_ and her idiot boyfriend forgot.''

''Dude, even _I_ remembered. How could you guys forget?''

Haley sent him a look then, as if to say _don't start gloating or I'll tell everyone the truth._

He nodded, a silent _noted._

''She didn't even tell us!''

''I told you nine times! Yes, I counted because I knew you guys would forget. But you don't forget your stupid chocolate ritual, do you?''

Nathan glanced at Haley cautiously, and she mirrored his look.

''Hey guys,'' Lucas and Peyton approached, the curly blonde carrying an envelope. ''Happy anniversary.''

Their eyes widened at the look on Brooke's face. She had been friends for Lucas and Peyton for a while, and even _they_ got her a gift. But Clay and Sara who have been friends with her for years forgot, that really hurt the brunette. She knew it wasn't _that_ important, but her other friends thought it was, so _why_ didn't two of her best friends? Nathan could practically read her thoughts through the emotions playing across her face.

''I have to, err, go to the tutor centre to... Bye!'' Haley quickly shot out of her seat, scurrying away from the table to escape Brooke's blow out.

''And I have to... help her.''

Haley giggled at him when he caught up with her. ''I kinda feel bad for Lucas and Peyton now, poor Brooke.''

''She has our- _your_ awesome gift to be grateful for. And how come you didn't tell me that you got us tickets?''

''I was going to tell you later, do you wanna go?''

Nathan nodded. ''I've not really watched many - _any,_ really - eighties movies, so it could be pretty cool. Especially if there's a party afterwards.''

She smiled, the _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs _one. It sometimes surprised him how she still had this effect on him. But then he guessed that that was what love is, loving someone so much that everything they do causes a little reaction inside. Like butterflies, or an electric shock- but in a good way.

_He swung their arms in between them as they walked home for, like, the hundredth time. And he didn't mind, because she was right beside him, her fingers laced with his._

_It was something that he never wanted to change._

_Because... well, because..._

_''I love you.''_

_Haley looked at him, stunned for a moment before beaming. She stopped walking and threw her arms around his neck, standing on her tip toes so they were almost at eye level. Her lips pressed onto his hungrily as she pressed herself close to him, and he felt all those familiar feelings swirling in his stomach as she did so, his mind started to go a little cloudy with emotion._

_She tore her lips away, the same smile still on her face. ''I love you, too.''_

_He was the one to kiss her this time._

''I think it'll be good. I don't get why Julian likes Grease 2 that much, though, even Brooke said it didn't compare to the first.'' Haley's voice broke him out of his thoughts as she shrugged. ''But I don't know, I've never seen it.''

''Cool,''

He glanced along the posters on the wall, all advertising prom which is in a month's time. The nominees for prom king and queen were also being decided tomorrow, and Nathan didn't even have a date. He presumed it would be Haley, but he felt a little silly asking her considering she's his girlfriend, but he doesn't know for sure.

She put in her locker combination, swinging the door open. Haley ruffled around in it, searching for something he couldn't see. She then pulled out a flower, a rose, to be exact.

''I thought you were allergic...''

''It's fake,'' she assured him with a smile, handing it to him. ''It's for you.''

Nathan frowned, taking it from her monotonously. ''Wh-''

''Nathan Scott,'' Haley interrupted him, the _knock-the-air-out-of-your-lungs _smile on her face.

(And yep, it did).

''Prom's a month away, and I was wondering if you wanted to go...'' she trailed off, smirking. ''With... _me._''

He gaped at her, stunned.

_''Prom,'' he finally blurted out. ''It's... it's a month away.''_

_''So?'' Haley repeated sharply, tensing at the subject._

She doesn't have a date?_ He wondered hopefully, yet surprised at to why the hell not._

_''And I was wondering if you would want to go...'' he trailed off. ''With... _me_.''_

His heart was hammering in his chest over the fact that she had remembered his words from the first time, and the flower (although this version was a fake one) from the second. He grinned at her, grabbing her waist and bringing her close to him.

''You know,'' he said. ''I think I might have to get back to you on that one.''

Haley slapped his chest weakly, her cheeks red. ''Nathan...''

Nathan interrupted her with a soft kiss on the lips. ''Kidding.''

It looks like 'Operation Get Haley James to go to Prom With Nathan' was a success, after all.

**The End.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So, uh, yeah, it's over. I'm going away tomorrow but if you want a preview of my new story, just let me know in your review and I'll send it you once I've wrote the first chapter(:

Thanks so much for all of your support, I really appreciate it!

So, was this last chapter okay? **x**


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